Woman by Design Designed to Influence: A Woman and Her Testimony Contents Introduction . 3 Section 1—Women with Faith . 7 1—Jochebed—Faith During Peril, Poverty and Persecution . 9 2—Jochebed—Blessed Beyond Belief . 19 3—Hannah—Faith at the Heart of a Troubled Home . 25 4—Hannah—Satisfaction Instead of Sorrow . 34 5—Mary—Faith Fosters Obedience . 43 6—Mary—An Overflowing Heart . 52 7—The Samaritan Woman—Faith Heals a Troubled Heart . 60 8—The Samaritan Woman’s Soul-Winning Words . 69 Section 2—Women with Influence . 79 9—Women: Different by Design . 80 10—Gathering Stones—Building Your Testimony . 91 11—The Purpose of a Testimony . 100 12—The Plan for a Testimony . 111 13—The Power of a Testimony . 125 Cover Image: comstock.com Bogard Press 4605 N. State Line Ave. Texarkana, TX 75503 Fellowship Bible Study Series Woman by Design Designed to Influence: A Woman and Her Testimony by Angie Peters © Bogard Press 2004 Series Editor, Kyle Elkins Editor in Chief, Larry E. Clements 4605 N. State Line Ave. Texarkana, TX 75503 Phone: 1-800-264-2482 www.abaptist.org 1060410 ISBN 0892113561 Printed in the United States of America. Woman by Design Designed for Influence: A Woman and Her Testimony Introduction “Blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a per- formance of those things which were told her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). Even if you never have memorized a verse of Scripture before, I pray that the passage above will be buried in your heart and poised at the tip of your tongue by the time we’ve finished the next 13 weeks of Bible study together. These words—nestled in Luke’s account of the birth of Christ—first grabbed my attention while I was preparing material to pres- ent at our church’s ladies’ retreat one spring. They have held me captive ever since. What’s the big deal about this line in the passage of the Christmas story that many of us have read over and over times since we were children? I can’t offer a scholarly analy- sis, but I can give you a few reasons why they matter to me. First, notice the three words that open the verse: “Blessed is she.” These words, voiced by Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, to describe Mary, the mother of Jesus, make up one of the few “blessed is” phrases in Scripture addressed specifically to our gender. Open your own Bible and see for yourself: Isn’t it awesome to see the words “blessed is she” in black and white on the pages of Scripture? I don’t mean in any way to take away from the valuable lessons we’re intended to learn from lives of biblical men, but doesn’t reading those words give you a yearning to belong in that category of women who are blessed? They make me want to read on to make sure I am doing what it takes to be included in that group. The next two words, “that believed,” tell me that Mary wasn’t blessed according to whether she knew the Jewish law (which most likely she did). She wasn’t blessed according 3 to whether she lived a trouble-free life (she didn’t). And she wasn’t blessed because she was a “good girl” (she was, but she was human so she sinned like the rest of us). She was blessed simply because she “believed.” That brings us to the second reason this verse took root in my heart: It reminds me that being blessed by God is so possible. I can’t figure out how to retrieve lost files after a computer crash. I don’t know how to have a conflict-free marriage, even after 18 years. Nor can I manage to work all the sinful thoughts and actions out of my life. Success at those endeavors is impossible for me. But being blessed by God—an eternally significant position—is doable, because I can—and do—believe! Finally, the last phrase of Luke 1:45, “for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord,” reminds me of the surety of God’s Word. He presents what He promises, regardless of whether I believe He will; thankfully, His actions don’t hinge on my attitude. As I began to understand that these 21 everyday words, with stunning simplicity, express the assurance that God blesses women who have the faith to believe that He will do what He promises, I realized that this verse was a solid foundation for my part of our ladies’ retreat. So I studied and prayed, prayed and studied, but I didn’t discuss this key verse with our planning team just yet. We didn’t even have a theme for our event at that point and while I felt that Luke 1:45 needed to be at the center of our weekend’s study, my outline was coming up short. I needed more material to fill in some pretty big blanks. Around that time, I attended a conference about the power of words, a topic that sent me researching in another direc- tion: a woman’s testimony. I learned that by design, women are “influencers,” and because of that we have the potential to point untold numbers to Christ. In a roundabout way, I ended up reading one of the most powerful testimonies ever uttered by a woman of influence: the “Magnificat,” or Mary’s song, which is recorded in Luke 1:46-56. It begins right after the verse I had felt led to use as a premise for our retreat. In studying Luke 1:45 I had been on the right road—I had found that we are blessed for believing. I just hadn’t traveled far enough down the road to see the entire picture that God was trying to show me—that when we are blessed we open our 4 mouths to tell others what He has done; we share our testi- monies! The realization filled in the blanks of my outline. I was excited about the topic and ready to talk over my ideas with the planning committee so that we could select a theme and coordinate what I would be teaching with our other speaker’s plans. But that’s not the end of the story. You see, before I had a chance to mention the “woman and her testimony” theme to our team, Ann, the other speaker, called me. Almost if she were apologizing, she said, “You know, I keep trying to come up with material to talk about but God just keeps leading me to share my testimony.” Needless to say, I sat at my kitchen table and told her every detail of what had been going on in my studies. We saw this as confirmation that each of us would be presenting exactly what God intended: a close-up look at the intricate relationship between our faith, God’s blessings, and our testi- mony. (Read Ann’s story on page 104.) About 40 of us spent that spring weekend in the magnifi- cent Arkansas Ozark Mountains learning about the faith of other women, celebrating the blessings God had been show- ering upon each of us, praying, and yes, sharing our testimo- nies. As you prepare to launch into your women’s group study for the next 13 weeks, consider this as your own invitation to a more in-depth version of that weekend’s materials. This study doesn’t involve much homework, but I do encour- age you to begin keeping a journal if you haven’t already started one. While skipping the “Quiet Time” assignments might be tempting—I know how busy we all are!—try to set aside at least 10 or 15 minutes each week to keep yourself from coming up short of material during the final weeks of our study when you will begin shaping your own testimonies. If a beautifully designed blank book from the stationery store will encourage you to be more faithful about journaling, by all means, spring for one! But if you’re like me, and those fancy books intimidate you because you’re afraid you might have to scratch something out, just get a 50-cent spiral notebook from the discount center. That way you can scribble and scratch without a moment’s thought! Whichever you choose, inside the front cover, you might date it and jot down our key verse inside the cover. 5 Our ministry teams’ prayers for those attending the retreat that weekend were the same as my prayers for those of you taking part in this study. I pray that as we study “A Woman and Her Testimony” your belief will be strengthened, your ability to spot God’s blessings will be sharpened, and that as a result, you’ll be eager to seize every chance you get to tell others of the wonderful things He has done for you! 6 SECTION 1 Lessons 1-8 Women with Faith Section Introduction Look around the next time you’re in church on Sunday morning and take note of some of the women you see. Is any one of those women leading a “perfect” life? Of course not! All of us have troubles, even those who appear to “have it all together.” When I survey my sanctuary, I see one woman whose mar- riage has just ended. Another one lost her husband to sudden death several years ago. Yet another is in a family that is financially struggling, and one more is grieving the recent loss of her mom, with whom she was very close.