My Sisterhood

In high school, I learnt a whole lot about people and the world. I can honestly say that I loved my experiences in my teenage years but I’d be lying if I said it was easy. My life really did turn upside down and I unfortunately experienced betrayal on more than one occasion. Those who I trusted did me wrong and I carried that principality around with me into my twenties. A principality is the root of something – in this case, sin.  It was easy for me to trust people but hard to forgive them once they hurt me. This is because I experienced hurt from the people I trusted most. These negative experiences when it came to building relationships caused me to build up walls of bitterness and resentment towards people who had perfectly good intentions in my life. Then, somewhere, seemingly out of nowhere, I met my sisterhood. Back then I didn’t recognize or even imagine the impact they would have in my life but as I reflected the other day, I realized I have never publicly affirmed their influence in my life and so here I am today.

“Each friendship represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born” -Anaïs Nin. As the saying goes, it takes a village! Mine is made up of four very exceptional women who have inspired growth in me. To love harder, to forgive quicker, and to be a better person. These girls are like the gum on the bottom of your shoe that you just can’t get off. No matter what, they stick around. We tolerate each other and roast each other, but we also pray for each other and carry each other’s burdens and laugh A LOT together.

For my birthday, my sisterhood got me a book by Bobbie Houston which is appropriately titled “The Sisterhood.” This book is Bobbie’s vision for this generation of women in 256 short pages. It details her journey to the women’s ministry and sisterhood she now has today. This book is nothing short of inspiring because it empowers women to rise up and take their place as the bride of Christ. Even in this world where the adversary so wants to put down women and minimize their importance, we as women need to catch on to the vision of God for our lives and walk in the purpose He has for us as daughter troops, as princess warriors, as strong and submissive women and as world-changers. But most importantly, for us as women to weave ourselves together into a strand of unity that would draw forth the blessing of God. Psalm 133 says:

^1-3 How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! It’s like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard, Flowing down Aaron’s beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes. It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.

So to my sisters, I give you these words from Bobbie Houston which speak my heart…

True friendship is uncomplicated. It may not be perfect, but if it is pure in spirit it will allow for the ebb and flow of life. It’s generous, encouraging and never competitive. It’s not easily threatened and leaps to the defense or protection of those whom it is loyal. It remains faithful in all seasons, is tested with the passage of time, and always finds grace to forgive when forgiveness is needed. It believes the best of one another and is undaunted when distance or busyness of life creates a widening space between that last coffee or shared giggle and the present.

I say all this to say that true friendship does exist. God desires for us to be in community and relationships with other people. He has said, "where two or more are gathered, I'm there," because He doesn't want us to be exclusive (Matthew 18:20). And truly, everything does work together for our good. God requires us to have a broken and contrite heart if we come before Him and want to be used by Him (Psalm 51:16-17). You can't walk with God if your heart has not been broken (Isaiah 66:3-4). If I hadn't experienced that heart break and healed from it, I wouldn't have of been able to appreciate the good God was doing in my life and the special people He was introducing me to. We shouldn't allow what happened in the past to dictate our future. And understand that beautiful things can come out of our most painful moments. 

Cheers to true friendships, vulnerability and trust.

Elena Asks.

Armour Bearers

This past Monday I had the honour of going to see the Hillsong United Documentary, “Let Hope Rise” in theaters and man was it good! I have always been a big fan of Hillsong Church and the creative content that they are able to put out. This movie was nothing short of that. It was inspiring, entertaining and glorified Jesus. But I’m not here to give a movie review.

This blog however, was inspired by the Hillsong Movie. (SPOILER ALERT) Towards the end of the film, Joel Houston is pressed for time in his attempts to complete a song 77 minutes before their live recording! During this time, Jad Gillies narrates what is happening behind the scenes. Jad tells us how he empathizes with his friend as he tries to complete the song being pressed for time but still wanting to complete it with excellence and to his own personal standards. I loved the way Jad spoke about Joel and how he recognized Joel’s needs at the time. But what I love most was the analogy he gave about his friendship with Joel.

During a very heartfelt moment in the movie, after Jad and Joel had just ministered the song Joel finished 5 minutes before showtime, Jad tells us of the story of the armour bearer. In biblical times, the armour bearer was someone who was in charge of carrying the armour and standing by kings or generals in times of war. They played a protective role or even acted as a covering. Jad sees himself as Joel’s armour bearer and Joel as his own. I was captivated by this beautiful analogy and decided to look further into the life and role of an armour bearer.

In 1 Samuel 14, a brave Jonathan decides he wanted to go over to the Philistine outpost and enter into battle with them. When he shared this with his armour bearer his reply was, “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul” (verse 7). An armour bearer dedicates themselves completely over to the one they are called to protect. This means that no matter how crazy, radical or outrageous your plan sounds, your armour bearer will stand with you completely. Later in the chapter we see that the Lord gave the Philistines over to Jonathan and where did we find his armour bearer? Right behind Jonathan following him and killing behind him (verse 13). That is what an armour bearer does, they stand right behind you and fend off any enemies that may attack you where your eyes can’t see. They intercede for you. When we look at multiple examples in the Bible, we can see that an armour bearer is someone you respect and can be vulnerable with even to the point of death. In Judges 9:54, Abimelech called to his armour bearer to kill him so that it wouldn’t be said that he was killed by a woman. King Saul also called upon his armour bearer to drive a sword into him so that he wouldn’t be captured by the Philistines (1 Samuel 31:4). And David, who you could say had an armour bearer relationship with Jonathan pleaded with him to kill him if he was found guilty so that David would not suffer the shame of being handed over to Saul (1 Samuel 20:8). An armour bearer is definitely not an easy or light role to have. It can sometimes require placing your life in someone else’s hands. But I see it as an important role that is proven to be valuable in God’s word.

As you’re reading this, you may be thinking of someone in your life who does just that for you. I love this position of an armour bearer because in my own life I have been doing a lot of “defining” in my relationships. It’s always very important to me to be intentional so I try to take time look at the people in my life and label my relationships. This way I know exactly what I’m called to do for each individual that enters my life. Some of these labels include: destiny-helpers, assignments, seasonal friendships, sisters and now armour bearers.

Being an armour bearer is not easy but as christians we are called to “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). We are commanded to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we may be healed (James 5:16). But most importantly, we are called to love each other selflessly and unconditionally. An armour bearer supports you even when no one else understands. They encourage you to walk in your God given path and they love you with their heart and soul.

Stay Blessed!!! 

Elena Asks.