ID

I was paid a fabulous compliment yesterday. A friend and co-worker caught me in the hallway at the office and said, "Shannon, I need you to talk to a lady for me." I could stop right here and be complimented plenty. The fact that he thought enough of me to talk to a lady for him was great. But he continued. "You do not define yourself by your singleness. I mean, you don't." Wow! I was kind of speechless, in a dropped jaw sort of way.

This morning as I dove into Isaiah, I read this in 56:3 and 5: "...let not any eunuch complain, 'I am only a dry tree.' ...I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off."

Now, there is A LOT more to that passage of scripture and I haven't done any fancy exegeting or anything but I was encouraged that despite my single, childless state at present the Lord is and will continue to use me for His goodness and His glory! What more could I ask for, really?

Please don't think that I have at all "arrived" in this way but God has done great things in my life and I am looking forward to what He has to come.

My encouragement to you ladies, of whatever age or stage of life, is to be in the Word, commune with the Lord - the Author of life and your Father - who desires His glory and your good. You are loved. Remember to include other ladies (of older and younger ages and different stages) in your life. Help them to see what it is like to succeed and fail and trust the Lord as you glorify Him in your ministry and friendships, as you wives honor your husband, and as you mothers raise your children to be more like Christ. Please, ladies, do not find your identity in your stage of life. Your identity is to be found in Christ. Are you His? If so, your circumstances do not change your identity. Don't believe those kind of lies. Hide God's Word in your heart and repeat it to yourself. God's Word is living and active... it will work in you making you more like Christ.