Her Faith Thrives

Guest Post By Gloria Gage McGehee

What images does the term ‘community’ conjure up? I immediately think of my besties, my  tribe, my sisters! The people that I love doing life with. But what if my concept of community  isn’t in sync with God’s?  

Several years ago I was asked to lead a follow-up Bible study after a weekend women’s  retreat. Four sweet ladies from my church signed up for the study. I was thrilled at the  prospect of spending several Tuesday mornings with these women. Each week we watched a video and discussed questions from the leader’s guide. We  quickly settled into a comfortable weekly time of fellowship, complete with flavored coffee and  warm muffins. When the six week curriculum ended, we decided to continue meeting. I  picked a video study from our church library and all five of us looked forward to an extension  of ‘community’. Yes, we’d become close, sharing our joys, our needs, and our prayer requests. 

Over the course of several months our community gradually grew. One of our original group members asked  if she could invite a friend to join us. Another wanted to bring her son’s girlfriend’s  mother. Then there were two older women right in my neighborhood who had seen ladies  gathering at my home on Tuesdays and asked to join us. And so our group grew in  number and diversity. A year went by, then two. We continued to add to our community.  Young, old, single, married, divorced, widowed. Women of great means and women struggling  to feed their families. Women who had experienced great hardships and losses in their lifetime  and others who had seemingly excelled in every avenue of life.

Soon I was baking double batches of muffins and searching the basement for extra  folding chairs. It was awesome to have a group of ladies pursuing a relationship with the Lord, yet, I have to admit I was a little rattled at this point. This was not the community that I envisioned for  myself. I felt like I was losing control of my group. I was most comfortable with those most like me and this group was extended far beyond me. Besides that, I sometimes failed  to keep everyone on topic during discussions and we did not always complete the lessons. 

I remember praying, “Lord, I feel like I’m herding cats here! A little help, please!” 

The Lord brought His word to mind  through the prophet Isaiah, “For my thoughts are  not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are  higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your  thoughts.” (Isaiah 55: 8-9)  Isaiah could have ended that verse with “DUH!” Thankfully, our God is too gracious to do  that! It wasn’t MY community that was meeting on Tuesday mornings it was HIS. I took a  deep breath and slowly willed myself to loosen the tight grip I had on this gathering of precious  ladies and relinquish all to God. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t immediate. However, for everything that God asks us to do, He provides direction and guidance.  

God outlined the steps I needed to take in order to cultivate the community that He  had created:

1.  Trust in His Goodness– Trust that God knows what He is doing! Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord  with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding”. All along I thought I knew the  best mix of women to create community. Yet God is sovereign. He carefully, purposefully  chose the women that would make up our group even before we began. My job wasn’t to shape these ladies into the community I desired, but to allow God to shape us into the  community that would bring Him glory. 
2. Seek His Kingdom–  Matthew 6:33a says, “Seek first His kingdom God and His righteousness,”  I felt that God was telling me,  to look- open my eyes and my heart to see what He was actually doing. To do that I needed to  view the community God had created through the lens of building His kingdom, not mine.  These ladies came to my house week after week, faithfully. I realized that seeking God’s  kingdom and righteousness could look like something other than watching a video and  answering the questions supplied in the study guide. Maybe that week, seeking God’s  kingdom and righteousness looked more like lovingly supporting and praying with the mom  who had tragically lost her son. Maybe it meant that we spend 15 minutes in spontaneous  praise to the Lord because of the good report from an oncologist. Or maybe it did involve a  video teaching and discussion. 
3.  Rest in His Provision –  Resting often seems like the opposite of what we should be doing!  James  1:19 says we are to be “quick to listen and slow to speak”. This was huge for me. I am a let’s- get-‘er -done -chop-chop kind of person. It took the power of  the Holy Spirit and duct tape (not really) to keep me from cutting someone’s sharing short in  the interest of moving our study along. However, this community of God’s needed to be heard, validated, and honored. How many times did Jesus patiently listen to people, and in doing so confirmed to  them their worth? I purposed to do the same for these dear ladies. 
4. Take Action – Jesus often commanded his  disciples to take action. John 15:12 says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I  have loved you.” Love is a verb, an action word. Even though this community God had created did not conform to my idea of ideal community,  He had called me to love them. Not just love them, but much  more, to love them as Jesus loved. Wow! Now, that’s a tall order. But again, God doesn’t  leave us without resources and guidance. The Holy Spirit will lead us to action when the time is right. Our responsibility is to  respond. I learned to ask: What does this person need?   Then, How can I  demonstrate love to this person?  In response to these questions I discovered ways to meet felt needs. So when one person in our group needed groceries for that week, I was on it. Soon  our little community was doing acts of kindness for one another on a regular basis. 

Over the years members of our group came and went, and I must say it never returned  to being  the community I envisioned. However, I recognized the fact that whoever the members were, they were part  of God’s community and that is the best community possible. 

Reflection questions

• Connection: Who has God placed in your community?  
• Growth: Would you consider praying that God would show you His purpose, His will for placing you in  a specific community?  Who knows if you were placed in this community for such a time as this!
• Gratitude: If you find yourself confused and even uncomfortable in your current community, would you  take a step of faith and thank God in advance for the blessing that is sure to come with His  perfect plan?

This article was written by Gloria Gage McGehee. Gloria grew up on a small farm in northwest Illinois. She spent 35 years in east central Illinois teaching a variety of grade levels, but the bulk of her years were spent in the Junior High classrooms. She LOVED teaching! Gloria has two grown daughters who she loves to the moon and back. She is retired and living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

For Further Encouragement

Were you encouraged by this blog post? I would love to connect with you on our special Her Faith Thrives Newsletter which goes out every other month. In each newsletter, I share a short reflection about how I’m growing in my faith during this season of life. Plus, I’ll be sending you some fantastic resources to inspire and guide you on your own faith journey. When you subscribe, you will receive my all-time favorite tool for making your Daily Quiet Time truly meaningful. It’s called “From Routine to Reverence: 3 Simple Steps to a Deeper Daily Quiet Time.” I can’t wait to hear how it helps you deepen your time in God’s Word.