Monday, February 15, 2010

Slightly Bad Girls...#1

I'm extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end. Margaret Thatcher

For those who subscribe to my blog, or happen to find yourself reading this, I am writing about a book a few of us have read, and were supposed to have a Bible study on. The weather, and life in general, have kept us from getting together physically. So this is our attempt at being accountable to what we are reading, or have read, and to share with one another.

The book is Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curits Higgs. If you don't have it, but would like to follow along, get it, and keep up with us over the next 6 weeks as we study how our flawless God used flawed women for his perfect plan.

The book starts out with a story of how the author struggled with the need to control those around her. Ever had the desire to do that? Nah, me either. Glad we can agree we're never, and I mean never, ever guilty of that. We could stop now, right?

Wrong.

Hard to admit sometimes, unless we're joking with 10 other women who are admitting their short-comings, too, but for some reason we typically feel like we know how to do things best, or that our idea really touches all bases where the idea of someone else is lacking.

I personally find this happening, oh, let's see, yeap, almost every interaction with any other human being throughout my day.

So, is it okay to be that way? God used these flawed women and He can choose to use me, so I should joke about my sin and hope that the more aware I am, the less I'll give in? Not hardly.

The first chapter in this book covers Sarai. We're going to kick this off with just a two of the questions before we dive in. If you've read it, feel free to go ahead and start sharing your answers, or what the Lord used to speak to you. If you haven't read it, but would like to share your thoughts, feel free.



1. What was your opinion of Sarai before you studied her story in Genesis 11-16? And what do you think of her now? Based on your personal experience or observation, what are the blessings of being married to a man uniquely called by God? And what are the challenges?


2. Sarai is the first woman in Scripture described as barren. Since "children are a gift from the Lord, to what end might God have closed Sarah's womb for a long season? Is childbearing still a source of esteem for women? What are some ways modern society measures the worth of a woman? How do you measure your own worth?

WOW!

Just these two questions could fuel enough conversation for weeks!

Read Sarai's story, if you haven't, and try to see where she was at in that time of her life.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

My prayer is we will choose time wisely over the next 6 months and instead of logging online and waisting precious time the Lord has given us, we will put it to good use, to God's use. Having to be held accountable to get into God's word may help us all to actually read and study more than we typically would.

I'll give my answers after we get 3 of you to give us something!

5 comments:

  1. Amanda wrote :

    I don't have the book, but here are my thoughts on your questions.

    A) My opinion of Sarai now is that she did not have a lot of faith, children was a big deal to her, she didn’t quite think through her decisions and suffered the consequences (didn’t really want to take responsibility), even after God promised her a child (she’s Sarah at this point) she was still lying which I think is kind of selfish. ADVANTAGES: blessed infinitely by God (even if you have to wait on His timing… Sarai controlled and imposed her own will); extreme honor to be called by God – the safest place to be is in His will… note that safety in God’s will and our measure of safety are two different things. CHALLENGES: believing God for who He says He is and what He says He will do; overall it’s a tough calling and will not be easy.

    B) God closed her womb for an extended period of time for His glory and to show His power. Childbearing is still a source of esteem for most women. In their culture childbearing was the pinnacle of self-worth and joy. Our culture today is more "stuff" based. Modern society worth of women: career, possessions, personalities, getting married, independence, children’s actions and/or accomplishments. Measuring our own worth: only one thing ultimately matters and that is being a child of God living in His will.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good stuff miss Amanda, doesn't matter if they are on blog, or here...I have to agree on the opinions of modern society, as sad as it is. On a video in Sunday School last year, I remember the speaker saying how women have achieved more "equality" now than they have ever had before, and how women are more miserable in their lives than ever before. Thanks America, for our wonderful liberation!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vanessa wrote:

    Ok...Here are my thoughts on the first chapter of "Slightly bad girls of the Bible." My first thoughts of Sarai was pity. Here is this woman who wants a child more than anything and even though she was obedient of her husband, She wasn't as faithful or patient with God as her husband was when God promised Abram many children of his own. She didn't believe God. Even when she told Abram to sleep with Hager, I felt like she did what a lot of women might do in her position. Then when she started treating Hager and Abram the way she did, my views of her changed. I felt like she was an old, mean, selfish woman who wanted what she wanted and didn't care who she hurt in the process.

    I think the blessings of being to a man called to God would be his unwavering faith, and he could help you to have that same faith too. What an inspiration he would be. Another blessing would be to know that he would have a home in Heaven with you some day.

    The challenges would be when I am ready to throw in the towel and stop being patient and throw myself a pity party he wouldn't let me. Also if he was involved with the church a lot then it would take time away from his wife.

    God may have closed Sarai's womb to show his power and to show her that she was chosen and she needs to have faith in Him.

    Most women are looked down on or pitied if they don't have children.
    Society mostly measures a woman's worth by material things but also by if she is married or has children.
    I measure my worth by the relationship I have with God, but I also measure by the relationship I have with other people and also by the kind of mom I am.

    Just some simple answers but I am learning!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angela wrote:

    I found Sarai to be an aging woman whose desire for a child overcame her faith and patience. After studying the story I say I find her to be a typical human with typical failings. Sometimes it's hard to keep the faith when you know time is running out. People in general have a hard time accepting that God's timeline rarely matches their own. She found a way to get what she thought she wanted and as is typical when people go against God she ended up disappointed and unfulfilled.

    I feel Sarai's barrenness was a test of her faith in God.

    Being married to a man called by God would be a blessing in that he could help develop your faith and guide you down the right path. Challenges would be standing by him in doing whatever the Lord called him to do regardless of your own agenda.

    Today childbearing does hold some esteem for women but not to the degree it has in the past. More and more women are opting not to have children at all or to wait until later in life after fulfilling personal or career goals. I think in today's time women can find merit in a variety of pursuits whether it be education, business, talent, or motherhood. I measure my worth by what I've done to help those around me. Whether it's being a good wife and mom, an honest employee, or a friend people can count on. I don't measure my worth by my outward appearance, the car I drive, or how much money I make.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My opinion of Sarai before, was that she was an exceptionally beautiful woman who obeyed her husband, even calling him Lord, as she followed him wherever the Lord called him. She was unable to bear children on her own, and therefore resorted to starting a family through the womb of another woman. Although lacking in faith, God blessed her with Isaac in order to fulfill his master plan. So...that was before...after reading the first chapter in our book, I can't say my opinion changed drastically, however, I did feel like I related to her more. After trying to conceive our 3rd child for more than 4 years, I can sympathize with the feeling of failure she must have felt. In those days, I believe God opened and closed the womb in order to show his power and because he had a master plan. The people weren't cursed with such poor health and the effect of sin hadn't worked it's wicked damage to women as it has now. Women in our generation fall victim to infertility for various reasons, not all of which do I believe are due to God's wrath. Blessings of your man being called by God: the opportunity to be found faithful to God in ways that are unique to your husband's calling, the opportunity to live out Proverbs 31, to be a help meet with the peace of mind that God is using your man for His purpose, the platform to encourage and support younger women as a godly mentor. The challenge: the opportunities I mentioned above are challenging altogether, you couldn't rely on your husband's faith to be enough for the both of you, you would have to fight your flesh daily to seek Christ so that you would be able to not be a hindrance to your husband's ministry. Your time together would be effected by his devotion, no doubt, which would lead to jealousy if your foundation in your belief wasn't solid. Your own desires for attention, fame, appreciation, acknowledgement, and praise would too often win the battle causing bitterness to set in if you weren't comfortable in your role as his help meet. Okay, so I touched on this whole barren thing already, but I'll recap...God closed Sarai's womb because He needed to...He needed Ishmael to be born of Hagar, and Isaac to be born of Sarai...the problem we have is, well, it isn't very fair is it? We want life to be fair, don't we? Think about it, we want to look at the injustice we sometimes endure from our friends, or our husbands, and complain about it to our friends, or to our husbands, as unfair. We want to come up with a logic to situations to feel better about why they are what they are...well...what I was reminded of in this first chapter is, life isn't fair, is it dear Sarai? God didn't promise us a fair life, so why is it we still expect it? Not all blessings come in the same size and shape, so why is our expectant hand always reaching out for more? Childbearing is absolutely still a source of esteem for women, however, unfortunately childrearing is not. Many families are missing the mark on what it means to train up their children, and are not seeing how the handing down of their faith is of more value than the handing down of an allowance. We excuse away our children's poor behavior by saying, "Teenagers, you know how they are?" or when our 2 yr old is demanding, and their attitudes determine the direction of the entire family, "Terrible Twos", I wonder what Christ's response to a mother with unruly children would have been...Oh, I believe he gives us an answer in Proverbs 10:1...So, obviously what I'm getting at, is I feel the Lord is asking me to be found worthy of the blessing of being a wife and a mother by not taking the responsibities lightly... If I had to measure my worth, Matthew 7:15-26 and Proverbs 31:28 would probably be on the other side of the scales...

    ReplyDelete