Page 26 - Sarah's Children

The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
They struck me and wounded me;
The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.

Song of Songs 5:7

The Bitter Cup

ne benefit of releasing this book in serialized form is that it gives me an
opportunity to gauge the response of those who are receiving it. After
Oannouncing the book and sending out the Introduction I received much
effusive praise and encouragement from many women.

The Introduction spoke of the high calling of women, and of women being viewed as
holy. It made mention of the reactions godly women are getting on the sidewalks and
in public places as men see something pure in them as they are adorned with
modesty and humility. It spoke of godly women being viewed as beacons of light in
the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. What I was sharing excited many
women, and rightly so.

Yet as I have gotten into the next two chapters the response has changed. Instead of
a gusher of praise and excitement I have found an eerie silence and a few questioning
e-mails and I am hearing rumors of great discontent.

I am not surprised by this response. In the introduction of the book I spoke of the
fruit of the life of a godly woman, and the fruit is exceedingly good. Yet the next two
chapters spoke of the process of bringing forth this fruit. The process is not so
glorious as the fruit. We have the words of our Savior that clearly reveal the path to
fruitfulness and glory.

John 12:24-25

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses
it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal."

The last chapter was entitled "Dying to Live". There is one fact that often we would
like to forget. To reach a place of fruitfulness in our lives we must first go through
crushing and a process of death. The hard outer shell of our life must be broken open
to allow the life of Christ to come forth.