Encouragement for Sisters in Lockdown

By Jeanine Camacho

Dear Sisters of the church,
You are daily on my mind and heart. I love you and pray for you often, as I know you love and pray for the church as well. During this unique season, all of us have had spiritual patterns that we treasure disrupted in almost every way. So I wanted to share some ideas and exhortations today that can help us connect and worship well in the fall of 2020!
Is your heart heavy laden with personal problems that are weighing you down?

• Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” We need the body of Christ. When we believed in Christ, we were saved into a body, not an individual relationship. We need each other. We need to tell others when we’re having a hard day or low nights, and we need to pray for one another. 
• “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 Jesus wants to bear your burdens. Go to Him with your heaviness. He loves you, He is with you always, and He wants to take the weight off of your shoulders. Go to Christ.

Are you in a spiritually dark place?

• “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”  -James 5:16 Sometimes sin that has not been confessed weighs our hearts down. But 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all righteousness. God desires to not only forgive you, but to cleanse you. Confess your sins to Him, and also consider whether it may be good for you to confess it to another sister, so that she can remind you of the gospel and pray for you. This is powerful stuff, and will bring you much healing.
• Have you begun a sinful habit that you need accountability for? If you have begun sinning on a regular basis in a particular way, find a friend that you can trust and ask them to hold you accountable in that area. There is no shame in seeking help at fighting our flesh— only freedom awaits! Jesus broke the chains of sin that held us down (Gal. 1:4) and we want to help each other walk forward as free people.

Do you feel discouraged or isolated?

• This season has shown all of us how badly we (and our kids!) need relationships! That verse in Hebrews now takes on fresh meaning to me, where the apostle reminds believers to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” Heb. 10:24-25
• Do you have a community group or Bible study group that is holding you up in this season? If not, please consider joining the Thursday night women’s Bible study, or connecting to another community group (most are on Zoom right now, so it shouldn’t be hard to join in!). And remember, not only do you need sisters, but your sisters need you. Maybe you are God’s solution to the loneliness in someone else’s heart, too— remember 1 Cor. 12:12-26. Our deacon Vanessa Trapp is ready and willing to help you connect, email her today!

Do you feel heavy with the weight and problems of the world?

• Remember this truth: God cares, God sees, and God will act. “O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.” Psalms 10:17-18
• Remind yourself of God’s character: His omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience. Isaiah 45:4-8, Deut 10:17-22
• Our souls were not made to hold all the problems of the world in our heads— this is one way that over-exposure to media can be harmful. When we see all the problems, but can do nothing about them, it can be overwhelming, and can lead to anxiety, depression, despair, or worse. Consider limiting your time on the media, decide to stop “clicking” on those trigger articles, and instead try this: For a few days, pray, and actively watch your immediate surroundings. Who in your neighborhood could you pray for today? Who in your household can you pray for? Who can you serve? God can care for the world, and we can care for our tiny piece of it, in His strength 5020202020Recent