DaybyDay

This article is from PowerUp! from Spiritled Woman.
Monday, November 3, 2008


CALLING ALL MOTHERS

By Margaret English


While watching Gov. Sarah Palin speak to voters in Pennsylvania this morning, with her precious children standing behind her, a scripture from Judges 5 stirred in my heart. In it, Israel's judge Deborah said, "I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel."

Judges 5:6 says, "In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, and travelers went by roundabout ways." She lived in dangerous times when people couldn't walk outside at night. Evils lurked everywhere.

What was Deborah's response to the evil time in which she lived? This mother in Israel looked around and saw a scene much like what we see today. Did she feel sorry for herself? Did she run around and try to find someone to save her? That is learned helplessness, and much of the church has learned it, especially women. But Deborah didn't shrivel up. She got up—she took action.

Deborah stopped sitting down and letting the enemy run over her and her children. She stopped wringing her hands and living in fear. Judges 5:7 says, "Until I Deborah arose, a mother in Israel." She rose up as a mother, because she understood that God had given her a powerful position in her home, her community and her nation. In fact, what role is more powerful than a mother's role? Many mothers will fight to the death for the safety of their children. A mother learns how to live for the welfare and best interests of others every day of her life.

In ancient times, when times became truly tough and evils lurked everywhere, when enemies increased and people were pressed down, God raised up a woman, Deborah, a mother in Israel. I was inspired as I heard Sarah Palin speak so eloquently about fighting for the needs of a nation in difficult times. Like Deborah, Sarah has risen up as mother in America, to make a difference for those she loves.

Interestingly enough, the great general in Deborah's time said he wouldn't go into battle without her. And today, Senator John McCain has insisted on having Sarah at his side. Together, Deborah and her general defeated the enemy. Deborah was a judge who knew how to call upon the Lord. In battle, God fought for them, and the enemy was destroyed by the hands of yet another woman, Jael (Judges 4:21).

"Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand and went secretly into him and drove it through his head." Interestingly, this enemy's gruesome death reflects a promise spoken of womankind in Genesis. God prophesied that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (see Gen. 3:15). Way back at the beginning of time, God said that women would have a hand in the destruction of Satan.

I'm so proud of Sarah Palin, a modern-day mother in America who has risen up in difficult times to take a stand for what she believes in. But what about you and me? The prophet Isaiah calls to women in the end-times. He says, "Rise up you women who are at ease….Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high" (Isa. 32:9,15).

Is God waiting for us to take a stand? I recall a service in which I had been asked to speak. But as someone's talk droned on, my mind had drifted away into other things. There I was passively daydreaming. When it finally struck me that all eyes were on me, waiting for me to speak, I was stunned.

Perhaps that is where you are today. Your mind is on other things, but heaven's eyes are on you, waiting for you to rise up and take your place, to stand up as a mother in Israel. Perhaps, if you listen carefully, you'll hear the Lord clearing his throat and whispering, "It's your turn to speak up."

PRAYER POWER FOR THE WEEK OF 11/3/2008
This week pray for our nation as never before and ask God to help you make a lasting difference in establishing righteousness in it once again. Ask Him to forgive us where we've not taken a strong enough stand against the things that displease Him. Thank Him that we still have free elections and pray for a safe, peaceful Election Day and a smooth transition period. Continue to bless Israel and pray for its protection, for our military and for those persecuted around the world because of their faith. Pray for President Bush as he completes his term of office. 2 Chron. 7:14