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Being Confident Of This

Grace for the work-in-progress woman

What One Year Taught Me about Hope That Is Not Put to Shame (and a Giveaway!)

September 12, 2018 by jstults Leave a Comment

“Did you know she’s an author now?!” My friend laid her hand on my arm as she spoke to the other women standing in front of us.

Before I could stop myself, I found my head shaking no, as if the information weren’t true, because some part of me still doubted that I deserved that label. After all these years of writing about the work-in-progress woman and claiming our identity in Christ, I honestly still struggle to lay claim to the plans God has for my life and the gifts He has given me.

And again later that week, when one of my children called me an author, I was tempted to deny it. I wondered then if Hope for the Hurting Wife had been traditionally published if the label would be easier to accept? Even as the thought came to mind, I knew that wasn’t the heart of the issue.

The problem was that I sought the approval of men rather than God – a dangerous place to be.

I can’t remember how many times over the years I have confessed my stubborn pride and my desire for worldly achievement to the Lord. Over and over again, I find myself looking for confirmation that I should find in Christ alone.

What about you, friend? Do you look for confirmation, too?

“I think I’m afraid to get my hopes up, “I confessed to my husband one night as I worked late on the manuscript. “I want to trust God because I know He’s the God of the impossible; nothing is too difficult for him. But I’m really afraid to be disappointed. I selfishly want our book to succeed!”

Are you afraid to get your hopes up? Afraid God might just disappoint you? What 1 year taught be about a hope that is not put to shame! #hope #noshame #Christianwomen #book resources for Christians | godly women | Bible study | devotional | marriage book | unashamed | insecurity | how to have hope | trusting God | discipleship | spiritual growth | growing in Christ | giveaway | anniversary | being confident of this

Hope That Is Not Put to Shame

During those pre-launch weeks, God led me to read through the book of Psalms. Rather than studying it in depth, I just read through it a bit at a time. As I read, a phrase began to stick out to me: “let me not be put to shame.”

But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
Make Your face to shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call upon You. Psalm 31:14-17a (NASB)

I found this phrase particularly interesting in the psalms attributed to David, the unlikely boy-crowned-king who spent years without a throne. Even during his rule, He faced frequent plots against his life. The psalmist begged God time and again to preserve his life and reputation. He even had the audacity to point out that God made him king to begin with, so preserving David’s life would be protecting God’s own reputation both among the Israelites and the surrounding nations who were watching the struggle for the throne play out.

It’s as if David said, “You’re my God and everyone knows it. So, if you let my enemies succeed, your own reputation as my God will be ruined.”

I decided to do a little study on this phrase and discovered the story of King Hezekiah, who asked God to protect Israel from the Assyrians in a similar way – in order to maintain His own reputation as Israel’s God.

Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.” 2 Kings 19:14-19 (NASB)

Did you catch that? King Hezekiah literally took the letter from his enemy, laid it before the Lord, and asked God to take care of it.

Near the end of that same chapter, we read about the God of angel armies, whose angel of the Lord wiped out 185,000 of the enemy and sent King Sennacherib (king of the Assyrians) packing.

Now, that’s the God who won’t allow his people to be put to shame!

The more I read, the more I became convinced that I needed to have faith like David and Hezekiah. Nearly daily, I prayed that God would not allow my co-author Rebekah and I to be “put to shame.”

*Jen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Thank you for helping to support this blog!

I reminded Him (and myself, too) that neither one of us set out to write Hope for the Hurting Wife, but that we believed we were walking in obedience to Him, following His plans. I reminded him that many people were praying for us, waiting and watching along with us, to see what He would accomplish.

What followed was a week or more of seeing hard work and faith in the Lord pay off. We didn’t have a huge marketing team in our corner, just a group of faithful friends. We had no advertising budget, no radio or tv appearances lined up. I think Rebekah would agree that, in fact, we really had no clue what we were doing.

But God.

What 1 year taught be about a hope that is not put to shame! #hope #noshame #Christianwomen #book resources for Christians | godly women | Bible study | devotional | marriage book | unashamed | insecurity | how to have hope | trusting God | discipleship | spiritual growth | growing in Christ | giveaway | anniversary

He showed up for us in amazing ways!

Through a blogging friend, He gave us the information we needed to reach best-seller status in several Amazon Kindle categories. Our little book began to appear as a suggested best-selling new release, meaning Amazon actually did the advertising for us. Looking back, I wish I would have kept better records, but I believe we earned at least four different best-seller “badges,” and we have remained in the top ten in several of our categories for an entire year now.

One year later, we have sold hundreds of copies in both paperback and Kindle editions, and we frequently hear from women who found renewed hope because of this book.

I tell you these things not to brag, friend, but to show you the might of the God who does not let us be put to shame, praise His holy name!

When You Need More Unashamed Hope

What is it God has asked you to do, friend?

Has he asked you to quit your job to pursue His plan for your life?

Has He asked you to stay in a difficult marriage just a little longer?

Has he asked you to use your spiritual gifts for his glory?

Has He asked you to commit to giving up a bad habit or pattern of sin?

Whatever He’s asking of you, if He is the author, then you can also trust Him to be the perfecter! That’s not to say that life will go exactly as you imagine, but that as you go, you need not be put to shame when following hard after God.

Consider Jim Elliot and the other early missionary martyrs who risked family, finances, and even their very lives to carry the gospel to the Auca people, known head-hunters and warriors of South America. I’m sure some of their friends and family thought they were crazy.

And when Jim and the other men died in a savage attack, I wonder if even their wives doubted the vision God had given them. I wonder if their hope was “put to shame” in the eyes of others, too.

Yet years later, some of those widows returned to the Auca people to forgive the murderers and bring them the Good News. Many souls have since been saved, praise God.

Was their hope put to shame? I think not.

The truth is, this world needs more men and women who are willing to be fools for Christ, more Christ-followers willing to risk it all for the sake of Christ.

Friend, please don’t be afraid to walk forward in obedience to the Lord. Please don’t fear to do things in His name.

The fear of failure is real, I get it.

But we serve the God of the universe – let’s get that, too.

So we cry out with humble hearts, Lord, let us not be put to shame!

Book Anniversary & Giveaway

Okay, let me climb down from my soapbox now (I really do get excited about this kind of hope!), and invite you to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Hope for the Hurting Wife‘s release!

We’re celebrating in 2 ways:

1. We’ve temporarily lowered the price of the print version (nearly half off!!) so that more women can get their hands on this book. If you need it, now’s the time to buy it. If you know a friend or family member who needs it, now’s the time to buy it. If your church has a library and you think it could use a copy, now’s the time…. you get the idea.

 

2. For the next week, you can ENTER TO WIN a copy of our book here at Being Confident of This or over at my co-author’s blog, Sharing Redemption’s Stories. We are each giving away a copy, so between the two of us, there will be TWO winners – woot, woot!
Hope for the Hurting Wife by Rebekah Hallberg and Jen Stults one year anniversary sale and giveaway! #marriage #giveaway #hopeforthehurtingwife #christianwomen women of faith | godly marriage | healthy marriage | marriage help | fight for marriage | warrior women | warrior wife | Christian books | books to grow your faith | Bible study | devotional | Being Confident of This

Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Before you go, can I selfishly ask you for a favor? We love, love, love to hear from our readers about how God is using this book in their marriages. Would you leave us a comment, or send us an email, or even better – leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads, if this book meant something to you?

We celebrate each and every one of your remarks!

All for His glory,

Jen 🙂

Filed Under: Marriage Tagged With: Christian Marriage, Confidence, difficult marriage, Hope, hope for the hurting wife, insecurity, no shame, not put to shame

There is No Shame in Truth-telling

July 11, 2015 by jstults 20 Comments

I can tell you from personal experience throughout my life that being falsely accused of acting in an unloving manner just plain hurts. Like most other women (and quite a few men), I like it best when people like me. 🙂

Yet there have been times in my life when I have been conscience-bound to speak truth into a tough situation even if I expected it might not be well-received.

What makes truth-telling even more difficult, however, is when fellow  brothers and sisters in Christ ask us not to “rock the boat” for fear of repercussions.

I do not refer to those voices who caution us to speak God’s truth gently or even intelligently (that message is needed, too!), but those who would ask us to quit speaking truth altogether.

Many grow weary of debate in current Christian circles, and some even ask for silence. Yet the example of Christ gives us reason to risk offending others for the sake of the Gospel!

Sometimes false accusations about our character or motives (not just the words we speak) dissuade us from truth-telling. They work just as the enemy intends by effectively shaming us into silence.

Sometimes we simply feel alone in our truth-telling, and so after a while, we simply give up.

According to Billy Graham, “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.”

We need courage now more than ever, my truth-telling friends!

I’m reminded of this recent favorite from Galatians 1:10:

“For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.”

As a bond-servant of Christ, I am willing to cause offense, even at great personal cost, not because I despise others or believe I am so much better, far from it. If you’ve read this blog, you know without a shadow of a doubt that I fall short of perfect.

I eat when I shouldn’t,

I disrespect my husband,

I choose anger instead of joy.

I sin.

I’m a miserable sinner saved solely by grace, Praise be to His Name!

In spite of my own imperfections, I am willing to take the risk of offending because I believe God’s Word enough to bear the wound of potential rejection.

The wound is worth it because I know the power of both grace and truth in my own life for affecting change from the inside-out, and I want others to experience that same power, too, all for the glory of the Lord!

Furthermore, I believe Jesus when He says in Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (emphasis mine)

My brothers and sisters in Christ, if you are bearing the brunt of a difficult stance, whether public or private, please realize that you are not alone. In fact, according to Jesus, you are in excellent company!

You see, the world would have us Bible-believing Christ-followers to accept that truth-telling isn’t just un-kind, it’s downright un-Christian.

It’s another Screwtape reversal in which something that is based on a little bit of truth sounds right and good but is really twisted, insidious and destructive.

The world would have us believe a lie.

There is no shame in truth-telling, friends.

Because being a Christian is being a follower of Christ, and Jesus had no problem speaking truth in love, even to the point of death itself. Likewise, his disciples followed his example to their own gruesome deaths, all for the sake of a gospel that the world around them found offensive.

I applaud what Answers in Genesis has to say on the issue:

“As Christians, we need to have the utmost integrity in all areas and be careful not to be a stumbling block to a fellow Christian. We should make every effort to live at peace with others (Romans 12:18). This does not mean, however, we will never offend a fellow Christian if, for example, a rebuke is needed. Even though we speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), we might still offend. We must live by the truth of God’s Word, and those people who are living contrary to the truth are often offended.”

And here’s what Jesus had to say to his followers on the issue:

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” Jn. 15:18-19

We can and should expect persecution because of the gospel we are so aligned with!  Not only that, it’s our badge of honor, in a sense.

By all means love one another, but in so doing, don’t become salt-less in a salt-needy world.

Many grow weary of debate in current Christian circles, and some even ask for silence. Yet the example of Christ gives us reason to risk offending others for the sake of the Gospel! Read here to learn why there is no shame in truth-telling.

Instead, put your lamp on a stand for all to see.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Mt. 5:16

So this is me,

lifting my lamp,

and praying,

praying that by it, others will see!

Jen 🙂

Sharing with: Saturday Soiree, Grace and Truth

Filed Under: Christianity Tagged With: Bible, biblical authority, Biblical truth, Christian living, Courage, Encouragement, Grace, no shame, offend, Truth, truth-telling, Women of Faith

Hi, I'm Jen: a work in progress. I'm imperfect - a mom of four, pastor's wife, discipler, and sinner saved only by grace. I like to sing, read, write, teach, and smile. I have a heart for encouraging women everywhere to understand God's limitless love for them and what His grace means for everyday living. Welcome! :) Read More…

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New devotional release from Jen Stults - Being Confident of This: 30 Days to Discovering Your Identity in Christ. This book is for every Christian woman who wants to walk in confident faith instead of struggling with doubt, fear, and insecurity! self-esteem | self-confidence | self-help | motivational | personal growth | spiritual growth | how to be more confident | Christian women | devotional | Bible study | identity in Christ | superwoman myth | being like Mary

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