• All Sites:
  • Pastors
  • Leadership
  • Kids Ministry
  • Student Ministry
  • Groups Ministry
  • Women's Ministry
  • Worship Ministry
LifeWay

Ministry to Women

Resources for Women’s Ministry Leaders

  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
  • Events
  • Shop
Hurting Women, Reaching Women
August 6, 2014

Share God’s Story by Telling Yours

By Women's Ministry

A note from Chris Adams: For a number of years now, my friend, Linda Lesniewski, women’s minister at Green Acres Baptist Church, has been leading women through the process of discovering and sharing their stories. It has opened many doors to healing and evangelism for her, as you will see through this article. Don’t miss the free ebook link at the end to help you start using this process with your women’s ministry.

By Linda Lesniewski

God has provided a powerful strategy for believers to engage others with God’s truth―personal stories of faith! The Apostle Peter referred to this biblical principle in 1 Peter 3:15. Peter provided those early Christians some clear instructions during a time of Roman persecution. When others noticed how their response to these pressures differed from the non-believers around them, they were ready to gently and respectfully explain the hope Christ’s love and salvation had given them.

Believers today are once again discovering the effectiveness of this same principle in today’s climate of skepticism. I’ve discovered that stories are one of the key resources leaders can use to engage younger generations. These stories of hope include our testimonies, but they also permeate our entire lives’ journey. They embrace all the times God comforted us so that we can “comfort those who are in any kind of affliction through the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (1 Corinthians 1:4 HCSB).

I’ve observed, though, that many women are just like me. We haven’t taken the time to find God’s comfort within a particular life experience. I had walled off wounds that begged for attention and for the light of God’s love, grace, and merciful touch. There were many reasons why. Childhood experiences required adult guidance for processing and competent adults weren’t always available to do that.

Sometimes the busyness of life simply moved me forward leaving issues unaddressed. Painful emotions or my lack of skills in knowing what to do with some experiences stalled me. Regardless of the reasons, God wanted me to give Him permission to redeem them and be willing for Him to use them in others’ lives. Only then would He be able to use these spiritual truths to encourage someone else in their own journey.

Following is a specific moment in my life that demonstrated God’s tenderness and grace. By writing it down, it can demonstrate to someone else ways God works to heal. It’s a tangible example of what it means when we say, “God is love.”

I sat in the church balcony while listening to a guest harpist. I marveled at his expertise and joy in using his talent for the Lord. He eventually launched into such a beautiful melody that I closed my eyes to savor the experience. I thought of heaven and decided this must be very similar to the music there. I then began adding faces of family members to my mental image of heaven. I included Granny, Granddad, Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Ollie. Oh yes, Mother and Daddy were there! I knew for sure Daddy was enjoying the music of heaven. Unexpected joy flooded in when I realized their conflicted relationship was also healed — not as husband and wife but as children of God living in heaven. Tears coursed down my cheeks as I imagined them sharing laughter and joy together.

The harpist completed his melody. As I opened my eyes I realized the Lord had just brought me to a new level of healing, a new level of releasing my parents into His care. Throughout the rest of the concert I basked in that moment of unexpected joy and marveled at the goodness of God in offering me this tender gift. As I grow in my sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s prompts to share a story, I’m realizing a growing number of avenues: face-to-face conversations, emails, texts, letters, blogs or phone calls. All of these avenues provide opportunities to tell of God’s love and how He demonstrated it to me. I’ve discovered that my life is not my own, I’ve been bought with a price. If my life is not my own, then my stories are not my own, no matter how the story unfolds. Even when our questions aren’t answered immediately, having faith that God was there and that He will one day heal our hurts and redeem our losses demonstrates our confidence in a living, loving, and personable God.

As I began to help other women identify and discover God in their stories, I realized the need for a strategy. His Story, My Story grew out of that need for a resource to guide women through the process. LifeWay has now made it available as a free download. It’s a six-week individual or small group resource that guides women to find God at work in their lives. It uses obscure stories of biblical women to remind them of similar life experiences. Each week the participant is challenged to develop one of these events to discover how God has redeemed it, how He has comforted them, how He was glorified, or ways He has used it to shape their lives.

Recommended Resource: Transformed Lives: Taking Women’s Ministry to the Next Level

LINDA LESNIEWSKILinda Lesniewski is the women’s minister at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, and a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. She is a contributor to the book Transformed Lives: Taking Women’s Ministry to the Next Level, and has authored Women at the Cross and Connecting Women: A Relational Guide for Leaders in Women’s Ministry. Linda is mother of four young adults and grandmother of six little girls.

You may also like -

  • Lessons Behind the BlogLessons Behind the Blog
  • Rhythms of Work and RestRhythms of Work and Rest
  • The Secret Sauce in MinistryThe Secret Sauce in Ministry

Filed Under: Hurting Women, Reaching Women August 6, 2014

WE’RE GLAD YOU’RE HERE

Thanks for stopping by! You’ll find helpful articles for your leadership journey, whether it’s leading women in the local church, in your community, or in the marketplace.

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

  • Ready to join in and receive monthly content specifically for women in ministry? Enter your email address and click "Sign Up." It's that easy!

You Lead

RSS On the LifeWay Women blog

  • How Scripture Notebooks Can Draw You Deeper Into God’s Word + A Giveaway January 15, 2021
  • Book Notes | How You Live January 14, 2021
  • Parenting Teens Through Important Life Decisions January 13, 2021
  • 3 Tips for Kicking off Small Groups This Year January 12, 2021
Load More...Follow on Instagram

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

All Ministry Sites

Pastors
Leadership
Kids Ministry
Student Ministry
Groups Ministry
Women’s Ministry
Worship Ministry

Digital Resources

Ministry Grid
LifeWay Worship
Digital Church
KidEvent Pro
MyCurriculum Manager
Simulcast Manager
LifeWay Reader eBooks
Generosity
WORDsearch
SmallGroup.com

LifeWay Network

LifeWay Research
B&H
Ridgecrest

Copyright © 2021 · LifeWay Christian Resources · All Rights Reserved