Wrap it Up

Today was our last session of Beth Moore's Daniel study at church. I learned a ton, about myself, about history, about prophecy, about God. Beth encouraged us, especially through the second half of the study, to keep with the learning, even though it isn't about "me."

To a large extent, this is true. The second half of Daniel is all prophecy (to him,) much of which is now history (to us.) But even in learning about those prophecies which aren't about "me," God was speaking to my heart and encouraging me. Studying those prophecies and their fulfillment has made me so much more aware of God as a Man of His Word. What he says he will do, he will do. And I get the benefit of seeing, 2500 years later, that in many ways (MANY) he has already done what he said he'd do.

I love the Thursday morning study at church. Particularly precious to me is our Bible study leader, Stephanie, who has a heart for God's Word and a passion to living it out in her life... even when it hurts. And she has shared those hurts with us often, as it seems that with every new study she leads, she is put through a new challenge or struggle.

Stephanie has told us on more than one occasion that she has, at times, dreaded the thought of leading another study because of the challenges she knows are awaiting her. Yet she does them anyway, simply because God has lead her to do it and she desires to be obedient. She is also quick to share the the abundant blessing that God bestows upon her as she lives through those challenges.

I love her heart, and I love how that enables her to lead our class.

I mentioned in a previous post a little bit about working out our faith when we are at church. I guess I was referring specifically to small group studies. Those should, in my opinion, be the places where we can encourage one another in the living out of the scriptures we are studying. It should be the place where we can ask questions and share our shortcomings. It should be the place where we strengthen one another with scripture, encourage one another with the love of Christ, and bear burdens for one another as we prepare ourselves to walk out the door and live out our faith in a challenging world.

Stephanie allows for all of this. She allows for it even if it means that we don't have time to cover all of the material. She is sensitive to the possibility that the scriptures we study may be a great challenge to someone, and we must therefore take the time to build her up before she leaves the room.

My previous post was about the times when people's needs get squelched in a small group setting for the purpose of getting in all the material. It saddens me.

That is why I am so thankful for Stephanie's leadership of our Thursday study. She never squelches. She is a blessing, indeed.