Selected to Support The Lord says, “I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.” Micah 6:4 In a pivotal moment of human history, a young female slave approached a princess and offered to find a nurse for the Hebrew baby boy the royal …
Hagar
Secure in God’s Care And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 Few Old Testament narratives convey God’s love for the downtrodden quite as poignantly as Hagar’s story does. She was a foreign slave, probably a gift from Pharaoh during Abraham’s sojourn in Egypt (Genesis 12:16). Far from her birthplace …
Woman with Chronic Bleeding
Come to Jesus [Jesus] said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Mark 5:34 Twelve years is a long time to wait for healing. The unnamed woman whose story is recorded in three gospels “had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she …
Martha: A Growing Faith
Martha’s Aha Moment “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” John 11:21–22 Martha of Bethany had a servant’s heart. She welcomed Jesus and his disciples into her home on many occasions. She’s often mislabeled a whiner because she …
Samaritan Woman’s Testimony
“Could This Be the Messiah?” Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 Most of us know the story of Jesus’s encounter with a woman …
Elizabeth: John the Baptist’s Mother
An Answer to Prayer “Elizabeth, your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month,” Gabriel told Mary, “For no word from God will ever fail.” Luke 1:36–37 Elizabeth waited with the others assembled outside the temple. Inside, her husband Zechariah burned incense …
Abigail: The Negotiator
Prepared for Disaster [Abigail] was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings. 1 Samuel 25:3 “Disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household.” The servant’s words were laced with fear. What could one woman do to prevent such a catastrophe? The Bible says Abigail “wasted no time” when …
Deborah: Judge and Warrior
No Super Powers Necessary Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” Judges 4:14 Some may have called her the Wonder Woman of Ephraim. Deborah was a leader of Israel who settled disputes (Judges 4:4). She was also a prophetess, which means …
Leah: Loved by God
God’s Favor Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise. Proverbs 31:30-31 When my sister-in-law named her child Leah, I remembered that the name meant “weak eyes.” I thought she should’ve named her after Leah’s sister, …