Elijah and Elisha are two of the most well-known names in the Christian faith, ESPECIALLY to those in ministry. They’ve been two common names daily in conversations with my husband and I as God has seriously been dealing with our hearts and preparing us to be open and able to speak freely to others about it.
Last night, Allen preached on how there is a generation of Elijahs who need to begin taking in their Elishas. He taught that if we just stay in our church bubble and continue to be filled up and never pour out, then our cups will eventually just become full of stagnant water. Yes, they are full indeed, but you can still be full and end up being useless.
The dictionary definition of “stagnant” is:
Having no current or flow and often having an unpleasant smell as a consequence; showing no activity; dull and sluggish
And the thesaurus describes “stagnant” as:
Still, motionless, static, stationary, standing, dead, slack, foul, stale, putrid, smelly
And tells us it’s antonyms (the opposite of) are:
Flowing, fresh, vibrant
So how does life turn out for someone who attends church faithfully, studies the Bible devoutly, and checks off the “Christian-Checklist” BUT never goes back out and shares life with anyone else?
Do they become full of the Word? Absolutely they are full.... but their life loses the LIVING, fresh, vibrant, and flowing water and trades it for dull, dead, putrid, smelly water. Like Jesus says... faith without works is dead.
That could preach all day long, however I want to speak directly to us women. We never intend for our lives to become full of stagnant water. It’s in our God given motherly nature to pour out love to others, yet somehow sometimes we can find ourselves feeling dull, dead, and putrid. And it all begins with that still small thought in our heads that we have to be perfect.
There’s an abundance of women in the church. There’s no question about it. But how many women are truly taking that stand and ushering in Elishas and raising up another generation of Elijahs to see God’s life and love in every generation?
I get it, there’s youth pastors for that. I know, I AM one.
I am ONE. They are MANY.
I believe every woman longs to pour into other women. I also believe (and know) that it can seem terrifying.
Let me tell you a story from an excerpt in a book I’m reading (Letting Go of Perfect by Amy Spiegel).
Amy lived in a very evangelical small town community where everyone knew everyone and everyone supported and encouraged everyone. She had friends ranging from college students who were at the beginning of the journey of figuring life out to the retired women starting a new journey of grandkids and relaxation.
Just like any church community, there were the women she looked to as role models. They were the cover girls of Christian womanhood. They were the perfect wives with perfect makeup who cleaned the perfect house while actively volunteering. They were the perfect moms with perfectly dressed kids who were never late to church. They were the smart women. They had their lives together. And one night, Amy found herself sitting in a prayer meeting with these women. She was suppose to share her prayer needs and open up, but she was terrified. She could either open up and tell them how ashamed she felt about the mistakes she had made and the failures she was feeling... or she could lie. But suddenly, the atmosphere began to change and the fear was releasing its grip on her. These role models were opening up about their insecurities, fears, and weaknesses. The atmosphere became a safe haven to be open and honest and to take the burden off their shoulders.
That prayer meeting began a journey to freedom for Amy. The Christian supportive community went from being a place of earthly perfection that causes women to compare and compete with each other to being a place where people could be vulnerable and open yet feel safe knowing they were being loved and encouraged. Amy’s journey to this freedom landed her an opportunity speaking at a women’s conference where she was introduced by a lady who shared a similar background as her. Then the lady said something that touched her. She said that after talking to Amy, she would always feel like Amy was on her side.
You see, a lot of times, we as women are scared to open up and share those insecurities because we feel we will be looked down upon. Like our perfect Christian life will be tarnished. That we wouldn’t be worth anything to an Elisha because they will know we aren’t perfect.
But showing our imperfections while also allowing them to see God’s grace is exactly what makes us perfect for the “mentoring” job.
When we open up and talk to other women who look to us as role models and show them that we struggle but also that God can still use us, we’re letting those women know we’re on their side.
You support them. You are here for them. You’re letting them know there’s someone walking alongside them.
For so long, we have had such a tight grip on our vision of perfection. That we have to let the world know that becoming a Christian puts our life together and we fear nothing and know we are children of God and never suffer with insecurities. But in holding on to that perfection, we have lost sight of God’s perfection. God intends for Elijahs to raise up Elishas who will then become Elijahs and raise up Elishas and continue the cycle. I firmly believe we never intended to break the cycle because of holding on to our own perfections. But that doesn’t change the reality that it has been broken. BUT with our obedience and trust and truth, God can fix all that was broken.
It’s time we as women let go of our vision of perfection in order to find the perfection of Christ.