{"id":2104,"date":"2012-10-08T06:00:57","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T11:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=2104"},"modified":"2013-01-24T19:59:33","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T00:59:33","slug":"lady-in-waiting-lady-of-diligence-no-time-to-waste-and-free-to-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2012\/10\/08\/lady-in-waiting-lady-of-diligence-no-time-to-waste-and-free-to-follow\/","title":{"rendered":"Lady in Waiting: Lady of Diligence, No Time to Waste and Free to Follow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/h3>\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n

LADY OF DILIGENCE<\/strong> – The perfect time to make the most of every opportunity is while you are single.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe very careful, then, how you live\u2014not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord\u2019s will is.\u201d Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)<\/p>\n

Before I got married, I used to wonder why the young married ladies of our church stopped being active in church after they said I do. \u00a0\u00a0We discussed this at one of Singles Ministry meetings because it puzzled us. \u00a0How come the gifted lead singer in the choir with a beautiful Soprano could no longer usher in the presence of the Lord during the worship service? \u00a0That beautiful voice was now seated quietly in the pew opposite her husband.<\/p>\n

I got that answer when I got married. \u00a0I realized that my time was not mine alone. \u00a0I had to consider that my husband\u2019s needs came before my own. \u00a0I could no longer just come home, change clothes and leave for an evening meeting. \u00a0There was dinner and other things to be prepared. \u00a0Most of ministry meetings took place in the evenings and since I was at work all day, I could not be out in the evening as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod has called me to live now. He wants me to realize my full potential as a man right now, to be thankful about where I am, and to enjoy it to the fullest. I have a strange feeling that the single person who is always wishing he were married will probably get married, discover all that is involved, and wish he were single again! He will ask himself, \u2018Why didn\u2019t I use that time for the Lord when I didn\u2019t have so many other obligations? Why didn\u2019t I give myself totally to Him when I was single?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

John Fischer could easily have written the above with me in mind because as a single woman, I was so zealous for the Lord. \u00a0I grabbed every opportunity that came my way to reach out to others. \u00a0I was out of the house on Monday for Youth Meeting, Tuesday for Bible Study, Wednesday was mid-week service, Thursdays, we had Singles Ministry meetings, Friday evenings and Saturday were mine to have girlfriends over for \u00a0slumber parties, watch movies and talk all night. \u00a0\u00a0Housework was also thrown in the mix. \u00a0Sunday was a day spent at church starting with teaching Sunday school, ushering in church during the main service and in the evening, community outreach. \u00a0You must be rolling your eyes just by reading this schedule but I enjoyed doing this so much. \u00a0No out of boredom but because the time was just perfect for me.<\/p>\n

Now, to adjust all this to married life and staying at home in the evening really took some doing. \u00a0It\u2019s a topic on its own! \u00a0I asked my husband for at least two evenings. \u00a0But overtime even the two evenings were too much until I settled for just Sundays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe single woman can be involved in the Lord\u2019s work on a level that a married woman cannot because of the distractions and responsibilities of being a wife and mother. Ironically, some single women can be so distressed by their single state that they become emotionally more distracted than a wife and mother of four children. \u00a0Page 26.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so easy to judge when you are seating on the other side of the table. \u00a0But when you get there you tend to appreciate things more. \u00a0I always admire a mother with children who are under 5. \u00a0To get them prepared and be on time for any activity is really work. \u00a0While I only need 45 minutes to get ready, she needs at least 2 hours or more!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s end today by thinking about what Jackie and Debbie asked us.<\/p>\n

Are you busy serving Jesus during your free time, or do you waste hours trying to pursue and snag an available guy<\/em>? Ruth was a widow, but she did not use her time sponsoring pity parties for all unhappy single women to gather and compare the misery of datelessness. When she and Naomi moved back to Bethlehem, Ruth did not waste a moment feeling sorry for herself. She went right to work. Instead of being drained by her discouraging circumstances, she took advantage of them and diligently embraced each day. Page 27.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you but I am challenged by Ruth not to waste time anymore. \u00a0You have all the freedom to follow Christ wherever He may lead you. \u00a0I still dream of visiting India one day for missionary work!<\/p>\n

___________________________<\/p>\n

LET\u2019S PRAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father I thank you for challenging us through the life of Ruth who did not waste time feeling sorry for herself as a widow but she did her work diligently. \u00a0Lord help us to open our eyes and see that the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. \u00a0May we seize the opportunities that come our way so that we may joyfully serve you. \u00a0\u00a0In Jesus Name. Amen.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

YOUR ASSIGNMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Life is so full of traumatic situations. \u00a0Single ladies have their share of such situations. \u00a0In the comment below let\u2019s discuss the following:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Has someone disappointed you in the past that you feel like you cannot fully serve the Lord in any way?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Have you put your life on hold and you are using this as an excuse for not serving Jesus?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    If you would like to take part in our Online Bible Study and Facebook Discussion Group, please click on the \u201cSign-Up Here\u201d button located at the top of our website, in the Menu Bar. \u00a0Once we receive your request, we will add you to our group!<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Be Blessed,<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Jackie<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    LADY OF DILIGENCE – The perfect time to make the most of every opportunity is while you are single. \u201cBe very careful, then, how you live\u2014not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord\u2019s will is.\u201d Ephesians […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[144,147,293,344,425,545,554,593,723,965,1135],"class_list":["post-2104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-singles","tag-bible","tag-bible-study","tag-debby-jones","tag-ephesians-5","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jackie-kendall","tag-jesus","tag-lady-in-waiting","tag-online-bible-studies","tag-single","tag-womens-bible-studies","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-xW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2104"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8157,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104\/revisions\/8157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}