Seven Days of Being a Woman Up LeaderНамуна

DAY 4: Pressing Through 

Have you ever had a scripture verse pop off a page, hit you in the head and say, “This one’s for you!?” If not, I’m about to give you one! Judges 8:4 Gideon then crossed the Jordan River with his 300 men and although they were exhausted, they continued to chase the enemy. 

Life can take it out of you…it can be exhausting! As a working mom and pastor, I can tell you that many days and seasons, I’ve done what I was called to do tired, “Exhausted…”, YET CHASING THE ENEMY or as some translations say, “exhausted but still in pursuit.”

People who do great things in life have to press through busy schedules, sleepless nights, and unexpected adversities. They push through the gravity of everything trying to keep them back and hold them down.

Leadership isn’t an easy road. It takes consistent showing up. Consistent pressing through. It isn’t for the faint of heart. You’ve got to do hard things. 

I remember when we first moved to Austin with all the vision of God in our hearts to plant Celebration Church. I remember having butterflies in my stomach thinking about all that God was going to do in and through us in this city. And God did all of that and more, but it didn’t come overnight. It came from 20 years of daily waking up and pressing through. It wasn’t made up of magical moments, but of hard work and sacrifice. 

Think about Deborah in Judges 4. Here is a woman who didn’t ask to go to this battle. She was sitting under her palm tree, doing her job, when God gives her a prophetic word for Barak. So she does her part. She shows up and gives him the word. But what she did not expect was that he wasn’t going to go into this battle without her. 

We see her over and over again showing up, pressing through, and leading no matter what. That is what godly leadership is about. It’s not about a fancy title, or constant inspiration, it is about showing up so that God can use you as His vessel to carry out His plan and purpose on the earth. 

Let’s not grow tired in doing good, let’s keep our faith, keep our energy, keep our focus, and WOMAN UP!