Chalk It Up To: Interdependence

Good leaders—love advisors who tell them the truth.

 Proverbs 16:13 (MSG)

A blending of chalk marks today. After intimacy, integrity, and initiative comes interdependence. Note: the word is interdependence, not independence. A woman worth her weight in godliness needs wise counsel to bounce her thoughts off of.      

 From our story in Judges 4 yesterday, I believe it is safe to assume that Jael could not have acted on her own, to be so highly praised for posterity: Most blessed of women be Jael, —most blessed of tent-dwelling women (Judges 5:24). She surely was guided by Deborah, the leader of Israel. 

 Martha and Mary were not on the same page as far as Jesus was concerned. Martha needed to learn from Mary the benefit of undistracted worship. However, Martha’s acts of service were not condemned—it was her sense of priority.

Think of all the dynamic duos or trios or more in Scripture: the effect Barnabas had on Paul’s ministry, Paul on Timothy and Silas and Philemon and Priscilla and Aquila, Priscilla and Aquila on Apollos. Where would one have been without the other? As Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 tells us: Two are better than one—

Yes, the wise seek wise counsel. Our Women’s Ministry is not a one woman show. The Advisory Council meets monthly to consider opportunities and seek God’s will. If something comes up between meetings, well—God bless email. Each woman brings along her particular giftedness, her unique perspective. God speaks in different ways; nevertheless, to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7). In the end, our desire is to fulfill our Mission Statement and pass God’s grace forward: Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms (1 Peter 4:10).

How could one soul do it alone? Ineffectively is the answer. Far better to operate interdependently which, as Edith Wharton suggests, serves to expand one’s soul.  

John Donne, the oft-quoted British pastor/poet said, “No man is an island, entire of itself;” Interdependence is a positive quality, but in your interdependence choose wisely—a woman who is intimate with God, steeped in integrity, ready to take the initiative. God loves the pure-hearted and well-spoken; good leaders also delight in their friendship (Proverbs 22:11 MSG).

 Nancy P