Have you ever faced difficulty as a leader? Now I know that’s a rhetorical question. If you are breathing, you have faced difficulty!  But how do we do it? How do we not give up when we face trials, personal or ministry related, while we are leading in ministry?

Surely you’ve faced struggles as you’ve been serving unless you are brand new. Why haven’t you given up? I can tell you, when I began facing trials while leading ministry, my first thought was to get out of leadership. I wrote about this experience in the blog post Leading Women’s Ministry in Difficult Seasons of Life. But God would not let me leave the ministry He had called me to. In fact He gave me ministry at times to give me a place to pour and feel like I was making a difference even in the midst of feeling like a failure in other areas where the struggles existed.  It added some balance to my life.

Why haven’t I given up?  Because God is and has been totally faithful and victorious in every situation.

I shared the following tips at a recent women’s leadership conference and on our last web cast. These are 7 things God has taught me over many years of life and ministry.

1.    Pray Honestly and Thankfully. God can take our honest praying, even if we are crying out in anger and pain. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:18 “With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and stay alert in this, with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.” We must pray even if we don’t want to or know what to say. We must pray continually and with thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
2.    Claim Scripture. His truth is truth always, and it will sustain and help us navigate difficult journeys. Here are many that He has given me over time that I even now go back to time and again to claim. Print them off and keep them handy: Romans 5:3-5, Romans 8:18, James 1:2-4,1 Peter 1:3-9, James 1:12, Philippians 4:6-7, John 14: 27,2 Thessalonians 3:16, Romans 15:13, Romans 4:20-21.
3.    Admit the Pain. Trying to fake it won’t work. Psalm 40:1 says I waited patiently for the LORD, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He already knows and your Christian sisters and co-leaders need to know when you hurt. If you stuff it, you will pray the price.
4.    Accept Help. Once you admit the pain, accept the help the Lord and others offer you. Accept their prayers, cards, hugs and wise insight as you face your struggles. I had a sweet young lady leave a note and scripture on my car windshield one day when she knew I was struggling and knew some of the issue. I cherished and kept that note to re-read. I was blessed that others knew and cared rather than judged.
5.    Hear God’s Messages. God will speak if we will only listen and watch for His messages. It could be through sermons, scripture, books, other people or music. The Lord gave me a song one day as I had just found out my dad had cancer and it did not look good. (In fact he only lived 4 months after the diagnosis.) The song is an old Tim Sheppard some, In His Arms. I am sure it had already been on the radio a while, but I’d never heard the words till that day as I sat in my office with the radio on. It had a line that says, “What is death but a door to the promised land, what is life living for without hope in the end, what is life without longing to be in His arms for eternity?” As I listened that day, I was so encouraged that my dad would be in Jesus’ arms when he left us. How I needed that message that day. Don’t be guilty of what we read in Job 33:14, “For God speaks time and again, but a person may not notice it.” Notice it!
6.    Continually Praise. I had a flip over calendar once that said, “Praise is more spontaneous when things go right, but it’s much more precious when things go wrong.” It becomes that “sacrifice of praise” when it’s hard and when we hurt and are confused. But we can claim this with the psalmist, “The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” He is worthy of our praise especially in trials. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 tells us to “Rejoice always.” My former pastor love to say, “Rejoice when you don’t feel like it, rejoice till you feel like it, then rejoice because you feel like it.” That’s rejoicing ever more. That’s continually praising our Creator God.
7.    Hope. Just remember to always hope. So many times in scripture we see someone who is at their wits end but who walked with God anyway. Habakkuk 3:17-19 is a favorite memory verse of mine.  “Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!  Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!”  And what about Micah’s words, “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.  (Micah 7:8) And even Job who lost everything, “Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways before Him.” (Job 13:15).

I pray that you will use these ideas to help you navigate your next struggle as you lead and serve others. Perhaps you have some tips to share with our readers of how you deal with struggles. Please share those in the comments section.   The next post I will share 3 results of being transformed through trials. Keep watching.
 

Not sure if this time of year causes you to reflect like it does me. I take a good bit of vacation time in December. I spend time doing some of nothing, some projects, and listening to God as I seek His direction for 2010. I am not one to make lots of New Year’s resolutions, but I do consider where I’ve been in the current year and where God might be directing for the next one.

 Looking back, I see relationships that have grown, some that have been difficult, others just starting. There are events that have been highlights and others that were more of a challenge. I see God’s hand throughout each one. My prayer is that in 2010, not one event will be handled any other way but His way, and leaders will be blessed, encouraged as well as equipped through each one. 

 There is also a bit of uncertainty as the new year approaches…what will it bring, what joys and challenges will I face. This time last year I had no idea that I’d lose my mom in 2009 and a week later on our 38^th anniversary celebration weekend we would find out my husband had lost his job. But God has been faithful every single step of the way!

 Our time is in His hands (Ps. 31:15 NKJV) If we believe that, we should live like we do! What are you thinking as the year is ending and a new one is beginning? Where do you want Him to work in your spiritual life this next year? Write it down (and feel free to share it here), pray over it and watch Him work. This time next year, reflect to see what He has done!

If you are like me, you are surrounded young women and often you just don’t relate to them because you are not sure what their reaction will be if you talk about your faith, or you aren’t sure you have the right answers for all their questions. Many of these young women in your midst just have not found a personal walk with Christ. But, LifeWay research says that most young adults are very open to talking about spiritual issues. We just have to take the step to engage them in conversation and building relationships.

Here are some practical ways to start that process.

1.      Complement for their interest and concern in spirituality. Tell them how excited you are that they are seeking spiritual answers to their life questions. Remind them that we all have a spiritual “hole” in our souls that must be filled. Ask them about their beliefs before you begin sharing yours.

2.      Communicate through stories and personal experiences. Share with them a struggle you have had that connects with their struggle. Then talk about how you had strength to navigate that time in your life. For me, it’s hard not to be transparent. I wear my feelings on my face! When we began a challenge with our daughter during her teen years, I didn’t hide it and because I didn’t I was ministered to. As a young woman, I had an older woman who shared with me her experiences of a struggle with a daughter. I watched her walk in faith years before our issues arose. But her willingness to share with me made a huge difference in my own challenge. So for me, my stories of life and how they connect to God’s Word in my life are a natural way to communicate.

3.      Embrace the Scriptures enthusiastically. If you are excited about sharing a passage of scripture that meant something powerful to you, you will encourage her to want to seek out what the Bible says about her need as well. I remember when Romans 4:20-21 jumped out at me and became a life line during a difficult time in ministry. I was quoting it to everyone who would listen! If you’ve studied the scriptures for a long time, you have a wealth of wisdom to share!

4.      Focus on Jesus. As has been shared in several books recently, young adults like Jesus, they just don’t necessarily like the church. Talk about Jesus’ love for those He lived with and ministered to. Share the stories of his healing of the centurion’s son or the woman with the issues of blood. Talk about His love for the Samaritan woman.

5.      Build relationships and community. Get to know young adult women personally, not just as your “project” to get them to church, but to really know who they are, what their lives are like, what they like and don’t like, what their successes and struggles are. When we had a young adult women’s panel last fall at our women’s forum, one woman said please don’t look at her as a “project”. Look as me as a woman, get to know me, care about me as a person more than as your project to get into the church. Doors to share your faith will open as you naturally get to know these women.

6.      Encourage worship through drama, video, art, and music. Young adults today love all the media they can get their hands on. Why not use these to your advantage? Biblical worship can take many forms so don’t limit yourself to only one. If you don’t know how to use all the technology, what a wonderful way to connect with these young women! They do know how!

7.      Listen to them for ideas of missions, ministry, and worship. As you talk to young adult women, hear their hearts for their community and the world. Find ways to connect their concerns with opportunities to serve. Perhaps you know a young woman who has had an abortion. As she has healed, perhaps she now wants to help other women see alternatives to abortion if they are in a crisis pregnancy. If you have a crisis pregnancy center in your community, find a way to volunteer with her to help her use her experience to help another woman. Your missions leaders may be able to help you with a variety of ideas about community or even international ministry. One church changed their direction for women’s ministry when they asked the young women why they didn’t come to the women’s activities. What they found out was that these women did not just want to be in Bible study, they wanted to be out in the community helping to make a difference using their passions and spiritual gifts.

8.      Provide interactive small groups and Bible studies. There are many resources that help young adult women grow in their walk with Christ. Make sure these small groups focus on the Bible and interaction to discuss what each participant is learning. LifeWay offers many Threads  young adult bible study resources. Young women want to talk about what they are learning, not just listening to what you are teaching. They want to discuss, ask questions and talk about what they know about it.

9.      Focus on accomplishing tasks. Work together with a group of young adult women who are trying to do something so big that only with God’s help and a group of women can this be accomplished. One group from my church has a ministry called Divine Do-Overs. They find a woman in need and then together with their group they have done a room make-over, painted houses, and done other projects as needed. One couldn’t do it alone, but when they pooled their areas of expertise they are able to accomplish a huge task.

10. Listen to what the young women are saying. Sometimes it’s hard for older women to stop and just listen to young adult women. But if we do not listen, we will probably not reach them. Take a young women to coffee and just listen to her life. Ask her for suggestions for small groups and ministry ideas.

11. Express genuine humility and love. As leaders, if we do not serve in humility and love as Christ does, we will never reach the young women of today. They want to see our hearts and our hurts. They need to know the older women have not arrived. We have much to learn and much of that can even be learned from young adult women!

Watch this video with Jason Hayes for more insights on young adults.

 Since so many of our women’s leaders are looking for ways to connect with young women to raise up as leaders, I wanted to share these 10 ideas with you from Janet Speer and Beth Ann Williams who serve at the Georgia Baptist Convention. I am sure these will be helpful to you as you seek to raise up young women as leaders.

1. Include on planning and leadership teams.

2. Give opportunities in front of audiences. Special events are a perfect place and time for this.

3. Pray specifically with and for a younger woman.

4. Ask them to partner with you to prepare a meal for someone in need and deliver the meal together.

5. Offer to baby-sit children so young mothers can attend special events, Bible studies, mission projects, etc.

6. Scholarship a younger woman to attend a retreat, go on a mission trip, etc.

7. Invite them to co-teach a study with you.

8. Send notes of encouragement; tell them how God is using them in your life and the lives of others.

9. Ask them to prepare and share a short devotion at a women’s gathering.

10. Praise and affirm their expressions of faith.

Janet Speer is the Adult Leadership Consultant and

Beth Ann Williams is the Adult Missions Consultant for Georgia WMU&WEM

What has worked for you? It’s such a joy to work with and learn from Young Adult Women, but it can be a challenge as well. It will be worth the effort. If we don’t do this well, there will be no one leading and ministering to women once we are gone! 

Let this be just the beginning of the ideas. Please add your ideas to this list by posting on this blog.