Ministering Ladies

I always thought men were of the impression that women were the carnal ones that needed to be whipped into shape. We were the ones that were naturally worldly. It was the woman that suffered insensitive gossip, inflated vanity, and inappropriate affections. One day the Lord began to deal with my totem-pole syndrome.

I am not alone. Many women suffer from this totem-pole syndrome.  We see the people around us as the faces carved, one above the other on a vertical tree trunk. The higher the face is on the trunk, the more close to God they are, or the more successful they may be. But alas, our face is the one closest to the dirt. Where did we get the idea that we were the lowest face on the totem pole? Where did we get the idea that we were the least important person in the world? God never gave us that place. We just took it because we didn’t know that there was a better place to be.

Eventually I begin to notice who was praying in our churches…the ones that were faithful sitting on the pews. One pastor confided to me that if it were not for the women in his church, he would never see revival. They were committed; they were the ones that were praying, they were the ones that raised money to make the rent payment or mortgage on the church building payment.

I am no longer a victim of the totem-pole syndrome. Now I see myself as God sees me. I am a precious jewel that he saw fit to come to this earth and die for. Isaiah 43:4 says, “Since you were precious in My sight You have been honored, and I have loved you.” Now I am living by grace and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ who died on a tree at Calvary, and rose again. A living loving God, rather than intimidating faces on an old dead tree, a totem-pole.

 
“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “ Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.” Isaiah 43:1      
 

Gayla Baughman and her husband, Terry, pastor in Pleasanton, California.  She loves music, enjoys writing, and is actively involved in National and District Women's Ministries projects.