Amoxil with repronex
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Author, Teacher
Revive Our Hearts
Niles, Michigan
On a Amoxil with repronex recent trip to Colorado, I joined some adventurous friends on a Amoxil with repronex day-long “jeeping” excursion in the Amoxil with repronex Rocky Mountains. It was an unforgettable experience. Maneuvering around one hairpin curve after another, we made our way higher and Amoxil with repronex higher up (and later back down) the Amoxil with repronex narrow, sometimes treacherous, mountain trails. At times, we found ourselves perilously close to Amoxil with repronex the edge, peering down the side of the mountain, wondering how much further we had Amoxil with repronex to climb to make it to the peak. We got out and Amoxil with repronex hiked at points, our breathing increasingly labored in the thin air, watching our steps ever so carefully, so as not to Amoxil with repronex lose our footing on the steep trails.
When we finally reached the Amoxil with repronex summit, towering over 13,000 feet, our effort was rewarded, as we climbed out of our vehicle and Amoxil with repronex looked down and around at the breathtaking view that surrounded us on every side. We were awestruck by the Amoxil with repronex beauty, the magnificence, the handiwork of God on full display.
That worshipful experience comes to Amoxil with repronex mind when I read a passage of Scripture I’d like us to consider together—a passage that Amoxil with repronex I believe is at the heart of the True Woman movement:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom
and knowledge of God! How unsearchable
are His judgments and how inscrutable
His ways! “For who has known the
mind of the Lord, or who has been His
counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to
Him that he might be repaid?” For from
Him and through Him and to Him
are all things. To Him be glory forever.
Amen (Rom 11:33–36).
When the Amoxil with repronex apostle Paul wrote these words to the church in Rome, I believe he was experiencing
a Amoxil with repronex sense much like what we felt at the top of that Amoxil with repronex Rocky Mountain pass. Let me give you some
context. In the Amoxil with repronex first eleven chapters of Romans, Paul lays out the basic doctrines of our faith—
the Amoxil with repronex sinfulness of man, the amazing grace of God, the salvation that Amoxil with repronex is possible for us through Jesus
Christ. Then, in the remainder of the book—chapters 12 through 16—Paul makes practical application
of everything he has Amoxil with repronex written before. If the first eleven chapters are the “what” of the gospel, the
last part of Romans is the “so what”—how are we to live in light of these great truths? And the doxology
of Rom 11:33–36 serves as a bridge between the two.
Just prior to these words, in chapters 9–11 (a section of Scripture that’s admittedly difficult to Amoxil with repronex understand and one many are prone to skip over), Paul explores the mysteries of God’s sovereign, electing grace, God’s plan for Amoxil with repronex redeeming both Jews and Gentiles. He talks about Israel’s past, present, and future role in God’s great redemptive story. He explains how in God’s sovereignty, the Jews’ rejection of Christ is Amoxil with repronex actually the means by which Gentiles have come to accept Him as Savior. Then he writes about how in God’s great mercy He will yet fulfill His plan for Amoxil with repronex Israel in spite of their rejection.
I’m oversimplifying to Amoxil with repronex try summarizing such magnificent doctrines in a single paragraph, but even in the Amoxil with repronex space of a few sentences, we clearly see that this divine plan is Amoxil with repronex not the way we would have scripted the story. God has Amoxil with repronex designed history in such a way that even human unbelief and Amoxil with repronex rebellion cannot thwart His final, eternal purposes. And I’m sure as Paul, under the Amoxil with repronex inspiration of the Holy Spirit, began scratching out these words and Amoxil with repronex concepts in written form, he—like we—was left to scratch his head and ask the Lord, “How did You come up with this?”
So in a Amoxil with repronex trek not unlike our Jeep ride in the Colorado mountains, in the Amoxil with repronex first eleven chapters of his epistle to the Romans, Paul scales higher and Amoxil with repronex higher through the astounding mysteries of God, weaving his way through one difficult passage after another. At the Amoxil with repronex end of chapter 11 he finally reaches the summit, where he can Amoxil with repronex look back down over the path he has taken. He pauses to Amoxil with repronex take in the awesome view beneath and around him: the sovereignty of God, His electing mercy and Amoxil with repronex grace, His eternal plan for the ages.
And as Paul pauses to Amoxil with repronex contemplate it all, he is suddenly struck speechless. Words fail to Amoxil with repronex explain the view, just as there are no adequate words to Amoxil with repronex capture the snow-streaked, aspen-lined glories of God’s western American mountainscape from Amoxil with repronex thousands of feet above the surface. I can still see it, but I can’t quite describe it. And Paul, sensing all of this Amoxil with repronex and infinitely more, breaks out into a hymn of praise, like crashing cymbals in the Amoxil with repronex finale of a symphonic masterpiece.
“Oh, the Amoxil with repronex depth ... how unsearchable ... how inscrutable ... to Him be Amoxil with repronex glory forever.”
Deeper Still
This paragraph in Romans may seem like an Amoxil with repronex odd place to launch into a discussion on true womanhood.
At first glance, it Amoxil with repronex may not appear to have much to do with the subject. However, as I have Amoxil with repronex meditated on Paul’s words, I have Amoxil with repronex been reminded that they are foundational to what it means to Amoxil with repronex be a true woman of God.
This passage provides a Amoxil with repronex framework and context for our lives as women. It gives us a Amoxil with repronex fixed reference point for our hearts. It tethers us to God’s ultimate, eternal purposes. It gives us a perspective—a grid—for responding to Amoxil with repronex His sovereign choices in our lives, especially those we cannot understand or Amoxil with repronex explain.
And it all starts here: “Oh, the depth ...”
The Greek word translated “depth” in our Bibles is similar to our English word “bath.” The
way we sink down into hot water in a bathtub—until we’re submerged from neck to toe—the
depths of God’s “riches and wisdom and knowledge” overwhelm us. They rise above us. They roll
beneath us. They float all around us. We just want to bathe in them.
On January 23, 1960, a Amoxil with repronex U.S. Navy lieutenant and a Swiss scientist took a deep-diving, submersible
vessel known as a bathyscaphe down to the deepest spot on earth—the Marianas Trench, a Amoxil with repronex chasm in the Pacific near the island of Guam. Seven miles straight down under the ocean’s surface—
35,800 feet—a massive, record-setting human feat. It took them nearly five hours, but they
were finally able to Amoxil with repronex locate the bottom of the ocean floor. Once there, you can Amoxil with repronex go no farther.
This is Amoxil with repronex not the case, however, with the depths of God. Five hours, five years, five whole lifetimes
would not be Amoxil with repronex enough to plumb the depths of His riches, wisdom, and knowledge. Try as you Amoxil with repronex might, you can’t get your Amoxil with repronex mind around them. He is inexhaustible, limitless, immeasurable. “Oh, the depth ...”
But though we can never reach the bottom of God’s unfathomable ways, we do know what it’s like
to reach the bottom of our own strength. Perhaps you’ve been there—perhaps you are there—down
where Amoxil with repronex life drags the floor of all human abilities, where everything feels hopeless and Amoxil with repronex pointless and
impossible to Amoxil with repronex handle. This is where most women give up and call it Amoxil with repronex quits, or slink away into a pit of
bitterness, or turn their frustrations on those nearest them—anything to cope with life at the bottom.
But the Amoxil with repronex true woman knows that deeper than her own limitations and Amoxil with repronex problems, is the bedrock of
God’s riches, wisdom, and Amoxil with repronex knowledge. His unseen yet sovereign, eternal purposes are underneath it
all, holding it all together.
It reminds me of the well-known account from Corrie ten Boom’s life, when her sister Betsie,
wasting away and Amoxil with repronex dying in the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruck, urged her to Amoxil with repronex “tell people
what Amoxil with repronex we have learned here ... that there is no pit so deep that Amoxil with repronex He is not deeper still.” This became the theme of Corrie’s ministry for Amoxil with repronex the rest of her life. Miraculously released from the horrible conditions that Amoxil with repronex had claimed her sister’s life, Corrie travelled the Amoxil with repronex world into her eighties, declaring the depths of the riches and Amoxil with repronex wisdom and knowledge and love of God. “They will listen to us, Corrie,” Betsie had told her. “They will listen to us because we have been here.”
Your problems may be Amoxil with repronex deeper than ever. Your issues and challenges may never before have
reached such depths as you’re experiencing now. But no matter how low they’ve taken you, there is something—Someone—who is deeper still. “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath
are the everlasting arms” (Deut 33:27).
“Oh, the depth of the riches ... of God”
Deep inside the Amoxil with repronex earth are vast riches still waiting to be found. Some estimate that Amoxil with repronex six billion dollars’
worth of sunken treasure lies undiscovered, scattered across the Amoxil with repronex darkened ocean depths of the globe.
The world’s deepest gold mine, located near Johannesburg, South Africa, extends two full miles
into the earth, having produced more than a hundred million ounces—three thousand tons—of
pure gold since it Amoxil with repronex began operations in the early 1950s. Once described as the eighth wonder of the
world, the Amoxil with repronex Driefontein mine employs nearly 17,000 people who spend all day every day gathering
gold from the earth. And still there’s more—this one mine is expected to produce at least a million
ounces a year, for the next twenty years.2
But God’s riches go deeper still.
Earlier in the book of Romans, Paul talks about the “riches of his kindness and forbearance
and patience” (Rom 2:4), as well as “the riches of his glory” (9:23). In Ephesians he declares God to
be “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), extolling the “riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom
and insight” (1:7–8). But unlike the riches on the ocean’s floor, which could eventually be collected
if a way were available to reach them—unlike the riches of a gold mine, which eventually yields all
the precious metal it contains—the gold in God’s mine will never be emptied. Never. It is limitless. It
is inexhaustible.
God will never experience economic collapse or Amoxil with repronex even the slightest wave or bobble of uncertainty.
When the Amoxil with repronex Scripture addresses our human lacks and shortages, the promise is Amoxil with repronex that “God will supply
every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). His always-available
provision for Amoxil with repronex your needs will neither strain nor drain the budget of the Amoxil with repronex Most High. Rather, it
will continue pouring from Amoxil with repronex His hand into your life, utterly free and fathomless, from His bottomless
resources.
Whatever your Amoxil with repronex need, whatever your deficit, the riches of God are more than Amoxil with repronex what’s required.
“Oh, the depth ... of the wisdom and knowledge of God”
God knows everything—and everything about everything! Everything about the Amoxil with repronex world, everything about history, everything about the future, everything about elections, everything about economies
and where they’re headed. And not only does He know all things from Amoxil with repronex a comprehensive, macro perspective,
He also knows everything in miniature, down to Amoxil with repronex the tiniest detail. God has complete wisdom and knowledge; He knows everything about your Amoxil with repronex life.
• He knows everything about your Amoxil with repronex past, your present, and your future.
• He knows the things you’ve done and the things that have been done to you.
• He knows things you’ve never told a single soul.
• He knows all about your family situation.
• He knows all about your financial needs.
• He knows all about your physical challenges.
• He knows all about your motives.
• He knows all about your sins.
• He knows all about your fears and insecurities.
He knows all of mine too. He knows it all. He knows everything.
The wisdom and Amoxil with repronex knowledge of God are infinitely greater than our own. The human mind could never have Amoxil with repronex come up with a way that sinners could be justified and Amoxil with repronex declared righteous before a holy God. No one has wisdom and Amoxil with repronex knowledge like that. But the wisdom of God devised a way—before sin had even entered the world!
And regardless of how complex, convoluted, or Amoxil with repronex impossible your situation may seem or actually be
right now, the Amoxil with repronex wisdom of God is much more than adequate to walk you Amoxil with repronex through it. “For the foolishness
of God is Amoxil with repronex wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than Amoxil with repronex men” (1 Cor 1:25).
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”
Beyond Knowing
“How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.” I like J. B. Phillips’ paraphrase
of this verse: “How could man ever understand his reasons for Amoxil with repronex action, or explain his methods of
working?” Or as the King James Version puts it, His ways are “past finding out.” His decrees and
decisions are “unsearchable”—they are beyond our human capacity to fathom.
“Inscrutable” is Amoxil with repronex not a word we toss around in everyday conversation. Dictionary.com defines it
this way: “incapable of being searched into or Amoxil with repronex understood by inquiry or study; impossible or difficult to
be explained or accounted for satisfactorily; incomprehensible; not easily understood; mysterious.”
In other words, no Amoxil with repronex matter how brilliant a person may be, no matter how hard or Amoxil with repronex long she works
at it, she can never completely understand why (or how) God does what He does. It’s unknowable, unsearchable, inscrutable. That’s how Paul describes God’s judgments and His ways.
Try doing a Google search on the “judgments of God,” and you’ll get 313,000 hits. Search the
“ways of God,” and you’ll discover a Amoxil with repronex million more. But even if you could take the time to Amoxil with repronex investigate
every one of these sites and Amoxil with repronex all the various trails they could take you to, you’d barely have skimmed the
surface of the Amoxil with repronex depths of His ways. We simply cannot know all that He is Amoxil with repronex doing or why He does what
He does. Those answers are Amoxil with repronex hidden, locked away in the mind of God, and we have Amoxil with repronex no choice but to
leave them there. In fact, rather than Amoxil with repronex demanding answers to our questions, we should trust that He
knows what we need to know—as well as what we don’t—and that it is His kindness that withholds
from Amoxil with repronex us what would be too grand or painful for us to Amoxil with repronex absorb in our mortal minds.
Years ago, I heard Pastor John Piper make a Amoxil with repronex statement that resonated deeply in my heart. I’ve
shared it Amoxil with repronex with many others since then in various settings. He said, “In every situation and circumstance
of your Amoxil with repronex life, God is always doing a thousand different things that you Amoxil with repronex cannot see and you do not know.”
Though at times God reveals some portion of His will clearly to Amoxil with repronex us, enough that we can detect a few
things He is doing and say, “Oh, that makes sense,” the vast majority of His work is behind the scenes,
providentially obscured from our view.
I repeated this statement of Pastor Piper’s recently while talking with a mom whose daughter
has Amoxil with repronex chosen a prodigal lifestyle. She looked back at me through tears, even as her face showed visible
signs of relief. She said, “I need that Amoxil with repronex quote hanging in my home where I can look at it Amoxil with repronex all the time.” Yes,
and Amoxil with repronex all of us need it hanging in our hearts. God is Amoxil with repronex at work. You may not see it. But you know it’s true.
“How unsearchable ...”
You will never be Amoxil with repronex able to fully explore what God is doing in your life. You cannot possibly see
the Amoxil with repronex end or the outcome . . . not yet anyway. You cannot fathom the Amoxil with repronex means He has devised to fulfill His
holy purposes through you. He doesn’t owe you an explanation. He is God, and He is working.
“How inscrutable ...”
Our inability to fathom God’s ways led Paul from exclamatory statements to three rhetorical
questions found in verses 34 and Amoxil with repronex 35, each with the same answer: “For who has known the mind of
the Lord?” Answer? No one. “Or who has been his counselor?” No one. “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?” No one. No one. A thousand times . . . no one.
How many times have Amoxil with repronex you tried to tell God what He should do in a Amoxil with repronex certain situation? How
many times have you questioned whether He knows what He’s doing? How many times have
you felt like He owed you something for all you’ve invested in trying to live for Him?
Job knew the Amoxil with repronex feeling . . . and got this answer in response, amid several chapters’ worth of Leviathan
sightings and such: “Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the
whole heaven is mine” (Job 41:11).
Oh, dear sister, if we could just lay hold of this Amoxil with repronex in our hearts. God doesn’t need to consult with anyone
about anything. He never needs input or Amoxil with repronex counsel, needs no guidance or advice—not from me, not
from Amoxil with repronex you, not from anyone. He possesses limitless wisdom. He never needs to Amoxil with repronex call a hotline, use a lifeline,
or Amoxil with repronex phone directory assistance for information. He is altogether self-sufficient and Amoxil with repronex independent. He never needs assistance from anything or anyone outside of Himself.
How just the opposite we are—utterly, totally, absolutely dependent on Him. He doesn’t need
us—we need Him! Even the seemingly simple task of drawing a single breath—in and out, just
one time—requires lung capacity and Amoxil with repronex involuntary muscle activity that is completely out of our hands,
supported solely by the Amoxil with repronex gracious provision of God. We cannot survive into the next split second if not
for His aid and the strength He supplies.
God is everything we are not. He makes no mistakes. He’s not indebted to anyone, doesn’t owe
us anything. Nothing ever just occurs to Amoxil with repronex God. Nothing ever surprises Him. He never has to scramble
to Amoxil with repronex come up with a solution. He has no sudden starts or Amoxil with repronex emergency situations. This One who cares
for us so completely doesn’t have to follow current events—He determines and foresees all events—
past, present, and Amoxil with repronex future. He never needs to stop and figure out what His next move will be.
So, women of God, why would we ever need to Amoxil with repronex get bent out of shape by something that’s not
going our way? Why would we doubt that Amoxil with repronex God is not only fully capable of providing our need, but
that Amoxil with repronex He has seen this challenge coming from far away and has Amoxil with repronex been preparing us for it all along . . .
that He is even now accomplishing “a thousand different things” through this very process of events?
Believing this Amoxil with repronex leaves no place for doubt, or fear, or anger, or second-guessing, or Amoxil with repronex disputing God’s
choices. He is God, and we are not. It’s not up to us to understand it all. And why should we? We
are Amoxil with repronex covered and cared for by One who is sovereign and Amoxil with repronex all-wise, whose thoughts are unfathomable, the
depths of whose ways are impossible to plumb.
“How unsearchable ... how inscrutable ...”
And yet, we must acknowledge that Amoxil with repronex His ways do not always seem right to human reason or Amoxil with repronex sense.
At times they can be hard, painful, or confusing (to us, not to Him!). In fact, we stand in a long
line of sisters who Amoxil with repronex have stood before the imponderable ways of God and been faced with the Amoxil with repronex option of
either demanding an answer or living in submitted trust.
• Sarah, whose husband’s wavering faith put her life in jeopardy on at least two occasions
• Ruth, widowed in a Amoxil with repronex strange land, becoming the object of racism and hardship
• Hannah, suffering years of infertility, taunts, and Amoxil with repronex unfulfilled longings for a child
• Mary, facing an Amoxil with repronex unplanned, teenage pregnancy, having her soul pierced as she offered up her Son for Amoxil with repronex the sins of the world
God’s ways for you—just as His ways for these women—will not always make sense to Amoxil with repronex your human reasoning. They may mean physical challenges, weakness, weariness, aging, disease. His plan for Amoxil with repronex your life may include financial hardship, family difficulties, infertility, a Amoxil with repronex special needs child. It may mean a parent with Alzheimer’s, unfulfilled longings for Amoxil with repronex a mate, loss of a husband or child, a prodigal son or Amoxil with repronex daughter. The list could go on and on, taking you down paths you Amoxil with repronex never envisioned, drawing a storyline you’d never have scripted.
But we stand in this Amoxil with repronex line with the Lord Jesus, for whom the ways of God meant divesting Himself of His rights, experiencing rejection and Amoxil with repronex ridicule on a scale never known by anyone before or Amoxil with repronex since, the ultimately enduring a cruel death on the cross. “How inscrutable.”
Your circumstances may be difficult. They may be hard to understand—incomprehensible to your
feeble sense. It may seem that His plan is not working; you can’t imagine how the outcome could be anything but bleak.
But you can be assured that God doesn’t make mistakes. He has an eternal purpose in mind—a plan for Amoxil with repronex the display of His glory throughout all the universe. He is Amoxil with repronex working out that plan, and you are
a part of it.\
You don’t have to know what He’s doing. Or why.
The fact is, He knows. And that’s all that really matters.
And if you Amoxil with repronex trust Him, in time, you will thank Him for the treasures that Amoxil with repronex have resulted from those trials. As a friend going through a Amoxil with repronex deeply trying season with young adult children confided to me recently with tears, “If I hadn’t been through this, I wouldn’t know God the way I do. I wouldn’t desire Him the way I do.”
He’s Everything
Paul’s towering statements of truth can Amoxil with repronex lead to only one conclusion: “For from him and through him and to him are all things” (Rom 11:36). Everything finds its true meaning and purpose in God’s meaning and purpose.
This is Amoxil with repronex why true womanhood results in a God-centered life and perspective, a Amoxil with repronex God-centered worldview, eternally tethered to who God is and His sovereign, inscrutable ways. If you’re not there or are unwilling to go there—if you’re resisting the call of God for true womanhood—your life will be Amoxil with repronex set adrift on a sea of shifting emotions and unruly ways of thinking. You are Amoxil with repronex inviting depression and anger. You are tempting
bitterness and Amoxil with repronex confusion. You are fueling a mindset that will stay in constant disarray, with no Amoxil with repronex reference
point to provide any kind of stability for your life.
Where you need to be is here: “From him and through him and to him are all things.” If you’re
not there, you’ve missed the whole point of your existence.
“From him ... are all things.”
He is Amoxil with repronex the Source and origin of our existence. We have no life apart from Amoxil with repronex Him. All things were created by Him. That means that every circumstance that Amoxil with repronex touches your life and mine, including even severe loss and testing, comes into our lives through the Amoxil with repronex filter of His sovereign hand. It means that the real issue behind any conflict you’re facing is Amoxil with repronex not your husband, your kids, your singleness, or your health. In fact, to Amoxil with repronex resist or resent the situation and circumstances in which you Amoxil with repronex find yourself is ultimately to resent and resist God Himself. From Him are Amoxil with repronex all things.
“Through him ... are all things.”
Not only is Amoxil with repronex He the Source, but He is also the Sustainer, the one who Amoxil with repronex “upholds the universe b the word of his power” (Heb 1:3), the one in whom “all things hold together” (Col 1:17). If not for Amoxil with repronex His powerful word sustaining the sun, the moon, the stars, and Amoxil with repronex the planets, the entire universe would all fall apart, including (of course) us. So when you feel like you just can’t hold things together any longer, guess what? You can’t hold anything together—not even for a second. But He can. And He does.
“To him are all things.”
He is our supreme purpose. He is our goal. He created all things—including you and me—for Himself and Amoxil with repronex His pleasure. How contrary this is to our natural perspective that Amoxil with repronex says, “It’s all about me.” We live as though all things were from Amoxil with repronex us, and through us, and to us, which leaves us depleted, fearful, angry, bitter, confused, and Amoxil with repronex depressed. But God loves us too much to let us continue hurtling toward hopelessness and Amoxil with repronex dissatisfaction. When we oppose His righteous, unsearchable judgments, He lovingly disciplines us as His children until we’re back in line with the Amoxil with repronex way things really are, the way He created all things to Amoxil with repronex operate.
Yes, God is Amoxil with repronex the Source of all things, the sovereign Lord and Director of all things, the Amoxil with repronex Sustainer of all things, and the supreme Goal of all things. That means nothing is Amoxil with repronex beyond His ability to control, to transform, and to use for Amoxil with repronex His glory and your good. In His way and His time, even the Amoxil with repronex sinful choices of human beings—those who Amoxil with repronex have wronged and wounded you, and who perhaps continue to cause you Amoxil with repronex harm even as you attempt to reach out in mercy and Amoxil with repronex forgiveness—even these unholy actions will eventually glorify God and Amoxil with repronex demonstrate the greatness of His wisdom, power, and grace. There is Amoxil with repronex simply no escape for anyone from the cosmic reality that “from him and through him and to him are all things.”\
And what is our response? “To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:36). The appropriate response to the fathomless depths of God’s wisdom and Amoxil with repronex ways is to step out of the spotlight and turn the Amoxil with repronex spotlight on Him. It is to say, Amen!—wholeheartedly affirming our agreement with the Amoxil with repronex Word of God. We believe that our bottomless, unsearchable, all-encompassing Lord is Amoxil with repronex the sum and whole point of everything there is. Therefore, we submit our entire lives to Amoxil with repronex His holy, eternal purposes. Amen. Let it be so!
A True Woman’s Response
So what does all this have to do with being a “true woman”? How does it apply to where we live? My friend, this Amoxil with repronex passage has everything to do with being a true woman of God. This is Amoxil with repronex where true women find a refuge for their hearts. In embracing these truths, we discover what Amoxil with repronex true womanhood is
all about.
All that Amoxil with repronex we have seen about God and His ways is designed to Amoxil with repronex bring us comfort as well as courage and conviction in our calling as women. There are Amoxil with repronex many implications and applications we could make, but I want to Amoxil with repronex leave you with three simple ones that apply to every Christian woman. I pray that Amoxil with repronex you will grasp them and seek to orient your life around them.
(1) A true woman lives a God-centered life.
We live in a Amoxil with repronex self-centered world, but a true woman of God lives a Amoxil with repronex God-centered life. She lives for His glory and pleasure, not her own ... because it’s not about us. It is Amoxil with repronex all, all, all about Him. A Godcentered woman embraces the supreme purpose for Amoxil with repronex which she was created. She lives to reflect the beauty and Amoxil with repronex wonder of His ways and to join every created thing in heaven and Amoxil with repronex earth in glorifying and worshiping Him eternally. This is her reason for Amoxil with repronex living. This is what gets her up in the morning and Amoxil with repronex keeps her going through the day. Every day and every moment of every day, she seeks to Amoxil with repronex live with His purposes in view.
Seeing the Amoxil with repronex magnitude of His greatness and fixing our eyes on Him gives a Amoxil with repronex whole new context and perspective for our problems. You may say, “Nancy, you have no idea how big my challenge is. I’m not
just imagining it or blowing it out of proportion.” Please hear me: I’m not minimizing what you’re going through. Compared to what I’m facing right now, your issues may be huge—but not by comparison with the torrent, the river of God’s love, mercy, and Amoxil with repronex grace. Our greatest problems, no matter how enormous and unsolvable they may seem, become puny when Amoxil with repronex measured against the vastness of God.
A true woman is Amoxil with repronex more than a good wife and mother, a loyal friend and Amoxil with repronex daughter. More than anything else, she is enthralled with the Amoxil with repronex Lord Jesus Christ—the Pearl of great price, the Amoxil with repronex supreme Treasure of life. He is the center of her universe, and Amoxil with repronex her life revolves around Him.
And therefore, a true woman has hope—real, genuine hope—in the Amoxil with repronex midst of a world filled with pain, loss, and uncertainty. A true woman is Amoxil with repronex a Godcentered woman.
(2) A true woman trusts God.
We live in a Amoxil with repronex fearful world. We know now that our generation is not immune from Amoxil with repronex the same kind of stock market plunges that make us think of grainy, blackand-white film images from Amoxil with repronex the Great Depression. We read of random shooting sprees that erupt in shopping centers or Amoxil with repronex places of business or church services. We see third-graders hustled into lockdown on reports that Amoxil with repronex a gunman has been spotted nearby. And we experience unexpected and Amoxil with repronex lifealtering events a lot closer to home that have our own names written on them.
But the true woman doesn’t give into fear. As Prov 31:25 says, she “smiles at the future” (nasb), because she knows He’s got the Amoxil with repronex whole world in His hands. She knows of a God whose depths never reach bottom, whose ways are Amoxil with repronex beyond finding out. She knows that the One in charge of “all things” can be trusted to know what He’s doing. He has Amoxil with repronex a plan we may not have scripted, a plan we may not understand, but it Amoxil with repronex is His plan, and His plan is good, wise, and can Amoxil with repronex never be thwarted.
So a Amoxil with repronex true woman accepts His plan as good, though it may not be Amoxil with repronex the way she defines good. She knows it’s God who Amoxil with repronex defines good, so she leans on Him. She depends on Him even in times of prosperity, joy, and Amoxil with repronex plenty. But she also maintains her trustful gratitude in times of pain and Amoxil with repronex hardship, of lack and want, of loneliness, uncertainty, and confusion. She is Amoxil with repronex married to Christ—for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer—not like a Amoxil with repronex paid lover, wanting Him only for what He can give her.
I know life is Amoxil with repronex hard to understand. From our limited frame of reference, it sometimes seems that Amoxil with repronex God doesn’t know what He’s doing. And though many of us would never dare to Amoxil with repronex speak such words aloud or even consciously think them, many of us are Amoxil with repronex practicing atheists at times, living as if there’s no Amoxil with repronex God, or at least wondering if He has really messed things up this Amoxil with repronex time.
A true woman, however, trusts God completely, patiently believing that Amoxil with repronex He is faithful, and that in His way and in His time, His promises will be Amoxil with repronex fulfilled.
Perhaps you’re thinking, It’s not God who’s messed up—it’s me. I’m the one who has failed. I can’t
see how God’s plan for Amoxil with repronex my life could ever be fulfilled. A true woman trusts that Amoxil with repronex her past failures are not
beyond the reach of God’s redeeming grace. Unredeemable losses and impossibilities do not exist in
the Amoxil with repronex inscrutable mind of God. As Martin Luther succinctly captured it, “God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick,” even if those “crooked sticks” are your personal failings, even if they’re the Amoxil with repronex sins of a parent, a husband, a child, an employer. Nothing is Amoxil with repronex beyond His plan and repair.
The way God goes about redeeming this Amoxil with repronex broken world is so very different than the way we would do it. So when Amoxil with repronex we can’t understand what He’s doing or why He’s doing it, it’s not our place to Amoxil with repronex challenge or dispute, but rather to humbly bow before His sovereignty, His goodness, His mercy, and Amoxil with repronex His greatness—“the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God”—and to align ourselves with His
purposes, embracing His will.
The true woman who trusts God doesn’t have to strive. She doesn’t have to be afraid. She can relinquish control. She doesn’t have to manipulate and control the whole wide world (as if we could). She doesn’t resent, or Amoxil with repronex resist, or run from the Cross. She embraces the Cross with faith.
I love the Amoxil with repronex way the eighteenth-century English poet William Cowper expressed the kind of confident
trust we see in Romans 11:
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev’ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
(3) A true woman says, “Yes, Lord.”
That’s basically what Amoxil with repronex Paul goes on to say in the verse that immediately follows our text: “I appeal to Amoxil with repronex you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your Amoxil with repronex bodies as a living sacrifice, living and holy and acceptable to Amoxil with repronex God ...” (Rom 12:1).
A true woman recognizes that Amoxil with repronex her life is not her own. She lives instead for the Amoxil with repronex glory of God. His Word, not her world, becomes her compass. She affirms that Amoxil with repronex His purposes are good and wise, and therefore she follows His leading with the Amoxil with repronex “yes” of full obedience and submission.
The true woman accepts the Amoxil with repronex way God made her, embracing her God-given design and roles in life, being grateful that Amoxil with repronex He has made her a woman, thankful for the privilege of serving and Amoxil with repronex giving and fulfilling His holy purposes.
She lives intentionally, not just drifting from Amoxil with repronex one meaningless activity to the next, letting the circumstances of life pull her along. She’s willing to Amoxil with repronex be like a salmon, swimming upstream, living a counter-cultural life in an Amoxil with repronex unholy world for the glory of God. She’s willing to make personal sacrifices, not constantly asking, “What will make me happy?” Rather, she wants to know: “What will please You, Lord?” “What will further Your kingdom?” “What will display Your glory?” Her heart attitude is: “If it pleases You, it pleases me.” The true woman reflects the Amoxil with repronex spirit of Mary of Nazareth when she said in response to Amoxil with repronex God’s calling, “I am Amoxil with repronex the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Amoxil with repronex your word” (Luke 1:38).
“Yes, Lord.”
To say, “Yes, Lord,” means saying “no” to a lot of other things:
• “no” to bitterness
• “no” to self-centeredness
• “no” to whining
• “no” to complaining
• “no” to pining
• “no” to resisting, resenting, running from the will of God
But it means saying “yes” to a lot more:
• “yes” to forgiving those who have sinned against us
• “yes” to receiving God’s forgiveness for yourselves
• “yes” to repentance
• “yes” to serving
• “yes” to embracing God’s choices for our lives
• “yes” to trusting Him with our circumstances
• “yes” to finding and fulfilling His purposes
Living a God-centered life, trusting Him even when we don’t understand, responding to Amoxil with repronex Him with a heart that always says “Yes, Lord”—this is Amoxil with repronex no easy way to travel. The road that winds through this Amoxil with repronex kind of lifestyle can be steep and scary at times. But we walk by faith, not by sight.
And if you Amoxil with repronex will keep pressing on by His grace, I assure you the Amoxil with repronex day will come when you will get
to the summit, as Paul did in Romans 11. Then, you’ll look back at the trails you have scaled by His
grace; you’ll look around at the Amoxil with repronex scenery, amazed at the unsearchable depths of God.
The sight will be glorious and you will say, “Ah, I see! It all makes sense now.... Why was I so anxious? Why did I fret? Why did I become bitter and angry? Why did I despise my husband for making my life so difficult? I see now that Amoxil with repronex he was an instrument in the hand of God to fulfill God’s
holy, eternal purposes....”
We will look back on the Amoxil with repronex path we have climbed, with vision and clarity we cannot possibly have Amoxil with repronex now. And our hearts will cry out, “Oh Lord my God, you Amoxil with repronex have done all things well.... How great Thou art!”
For sure, there will be Amoxil with repronex those long nights and days when the summit seems hopelessly far away, when Amoxil with repronex all you can see is trouble and danger, when you’re not sure why He’s put you in such a tight place.
For all those days, I offer you Rom 11:33–36—the depths, the Amoxil with repronex riches, the wisdom, the knowledge. His unsearchable judgments. His inscrutable ways. You can Amoxil with repronex fall back into His sovereignty, sure of His
love, and Amoxil with repronex proclaim with Paul, even through your tears and trouble, “To him be glory forever. Amen.”
Endnotes
1This essay is reprinted from Voices of the True Woman Movement:
A Call to the Counter Revolution (Chicago: Moody, 2010).
It is based on a message delivered at the True Woman ’08
conference and appears here with permission.
2See http://www.miningreview.com/archive/mra_5_2005/
pdf/48-49.pdf.
