Are you stuck?

This past weekend my daughters and I attended a sold out Beth Moore Conference in Waco with 7000 women in attendance. As you probably already know - that many women going to one place would be phenomenal, would be awesome worship - 7000 voices at one time worshipping Jehovah, the One True God. The parking and gathering would be a headache, and the lines to the bathrooms (even the men's turned women's) would have long lines.

So we are in a city that none of us are familiar with - depending on our Garmin. We left the hotel early and set our sights on getting to the stadium, parking and finding our seats before worship started. We turned onto the street the Exacto Center is on, and found our place in line behind I think a jillion cars waiting to go into the parking lot. The line was moving slowly but it was moving! After a few minutes we came to a solid stop - didn't move at all. There were cars all around and the other lanes were moving but not ours.

By this time it had grown dark. I know we had been sitting in one spot for at least five minutes, maybe longer when I noticed that the car in front of me had on their hazard lights. I careened my neck to look around, even thought about getting out, but the traffic was going around me. So when I got a chance, I pulled out of my lane, not sure if I would be able to get to where I was going or not, but I had to get out from behind that car! We finally were able to move! I had been sitting behind a disabled car. My car was perfectly fine - but I chose to sit there waiting behind a car that was not going to move for a while, a car with passengers ready for the conference that couldn't get there because they were stuck!

It made me think, how many times do we "get stuck" on our path of life. God has a purpose and a plan for each of us, but on this road that we all must travel, we get distracted, bogged down in a situation we think is out of our control. When really at a second glance the power is in our own hands to recognize the truth, to go around, go over; go through the difficulty and distraction into the place where God wants us.

It also made me think of the others that are following behind us - if we are leading and we get stuck, everyone coming behind us is stuck, detained, missing out on the blessings God has in store for them, until they decide to take a chance and go around us.

At the Beth Moore Conference, our theme was Unshakable Faith. Is there something in our lives that has caused us to be stuck in a situation that is spiritually unhealthy for us? Are we holding onto bitterness and hurt? Are we "stuck" in our relationship with Christ? The Lord loves us so much that He is willing to wait until we realize our decisions are not the best for us (we know this by having to deal with consequences of our decisions) we wake up and say - "hey, I'm stuck! Lord help me! Let's go around this roadblock!"

Our Baptist Association recently had a Ministry Wives/Women in Ministry Retreat. We asked each woman to give us input or suggestions about the Retreat. One of the main comments was that they realized they were not alone, and other Ministry Wives had the same thoughts, burdens and heartaches they did.

Why is it that we as Ministry Wives or Women in Ministry feel that we have to be so strong, so invincible. Why is it that we cannot share with a "safe" person that we have a problem we are dealing with?

The other most common comment was that they realized that they were worthy of God's calling on their lives. Why do we listen to the whispers of our enemy telling us how imperfect and unworthy we are when the truth is we are Daughters of the Most High God. He ordained before we were born the Kingdom Consequence work He wants us to do! He is more faithful to us than we can ever be to him. Set some time aside today to spend with Him. Allow Him to heal your broken heart and soul.

I have found that there is a hidden treasure in other Ministry Wives. They have a perspective that no one else has and they truly understand how I feel. I want to encourage you to find a "safe" friend in ministry who you can confide in, and make it a goal to be a "safe" person for another Ministry Wife. Confide in them; allow them to minister and pray over you. God has a plan for all of us. Don't allow the handiwork of the enemy to stop you from doing what God has called you to do! Don't stay stuck! Get back on the road today!

Kristi Bean, wife of Donald Bean, has been in ministry with her husband for the past 27 years. They currently serve at Calvary Baptist Church Nederland and have been there for 15 years. Kristi also works full-time as Ministry Assistant to the Pastor of First Baptist Church Nederland. They have three grown and married children, Ashley, Amanda and Mikeal; Sons-in-love Jamey and Ricky and daughter-in-love, Judy. Kristi loves spending time with her "Sweet Bean" husband and family, reading, teaching, and mentoring.