Rise up, you women who are at ease, Hear my voice; Isa 32:9
With renewed vigor, I sat down this morning with my Bible and began to read and pray through Scripture. The words “rise up” filled my mind, and I knew that 2020 was going to be a decade of adventure with the mighty Yahweh! I took it further, daring to ask the Lord if He had spoken thus to women and immediately began to search my trusted concordance. To my surprise, Isaiah 32::9 declared just that.
Rise up, women who are at ease, Hear my voice; You complacent daughters, Give ear to my speech.
Now I am not one to ever be defined as “at ease,” so I dug a little further. What I read was a voice of urgency spoken from the Lord to the women He loved so much. He was depending on His these daughters to make a difference in the land. A culture shift had begun to absorb the people of God in Isaiah’s day, and the One True God said, “Women, rise up!” He urged the women to stop thinking of themselves in a complacent way of every-day lists and people pleasing and to wake up to the thought that the heart of a woman matters in a nation. So much so that He suggests a period of mourning over what was happening in the culture. The vintage will fail, the gathering will not comeis most certainly speaking of the future of the nation and their children, the fruit of their loins and hearts.
It doesn’t take much to parallel the thoughts of this passage written in the 8thcentury B.C. with the realities of 2020 A.D. Women cannot be complacent about the social media that invades the minds of our families; with the declarations of the culture that try to force our Judeo-Christian beliefs into a corner in the name of tolerance. Nor can we be intimidated by those who call us “haters” because we refuse to change the Scripture to fit trends. This we are not. We love and we love strong, but if we adapt Truth to opinion then we are no longer genuine in our love. When we rise up and rise abovethe noise, we are ready to stand and to share what we believe and why. We heed the call to hear My voice and to give ear to My speech, for we know it to be the voice of One Who loves us so.
Daughters of God, I invite you to rise above with me and all the She Loves Out Loud sisterhood in leaving the complacency of “good enough” and “list checked” and accepting the challenge to fast with us through February 15, 2020 as we prepare for women to join hearts across America to Love Out Loud!in Jesus name. Fasting clarifies our priorities and leads us into praise, and that is what every woman of God longs for.
PRAY AND FOCUS ON:
- The number one stronghold that’s hindering your walk with Christ. (By the way, you already know what that is! Let’s deal with it in 2020 once and for all.)
- That women across America would unite hearts on February 15, 2020 through She Loves Out Loud to pray together in Jesus name and share hope, comfort, healing and joy.
WAYS YOU CAN FAST
- Abstain from one meal a day or intermittent fasting
- Abstain from TV or social media for a segment of time
- Abstain from all food, observing a juice and water fast
- Abstain from all meats and sweets, having only vegetables and other foods (The Daniel Fast)
- Abstain from sugar and all sweets (this is mine for obvious reasons J)
Can we as women of faith open our arms wide without altering our beliefs? Absolutely. Go to www.shelovesoutloud.org join the sisterhood.