Thirty five years ago God clearly spoke to me about serving Him among Muslim women as an evangelist. I didn’t have a clue how that should look for me but I forged ahead. There was hardly anyone who could help me learn, nor was there any manual so I was dependent on the Holy Spirit to show me the way and to gift me. That was a blessing in disguise! Thirty two years passed pouring out the love of Jesus, with an undivided focus, to my Muslim friends largely hidden away from the sight of the Church. Then suddenly three years ago, out of the clear blue, I was asked to write a book about reaching Muslim women. From that came speaking and training engagements and then someone urged me to blog. The past three years have been thrilling to help equip Christian women. There is a great need for equippers. My attention and energies became divided between speaking and writing and evangelism. It has been very fulfilling helping to mentor women. But, slowly and very subtly, I noticed that as I was engaging with my Muslim friends my mind would be busy with thinking how something could be used for teaching or writing purposes. Even though I love my Muslim friends, they were beginning to become a “subject”. That hadn’t gone very far, but a beginning is far enough. When the Spirit showed me this the brakes went on quickly. I did not want to “use” my friends as material. I needed to learn better how to manage a divided focus. So, I decided to take a mini Sabbath rest of a few months from speaking and writing and get back to evangelism and figure out how to manage the divided focuses. It has been refreshing. I still believe God wants me to equip and mentor others through speaking and writing, but He wanted me to see clearly the dangers and temptations which can creep up so easily and subtly.
Recently I read a biography of a Christian lady who began to treasure the words of an author who wrote prophetic devotionals but slowly became dependent on his writings rather than the Word of God or the Spirit. It set off alarm bells in me. Like me decades ago, many Christian women really want to reach out to Muslim women but they don’t know how to go about it. When I talk to some of them it’s like they want a manual. I would not wish for any reader of my book or blog to look at my writings as a manual but simply for encouragement. The best source of learning is right from the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. The truth is, I am still learning!
Dear heavenly Father, teach me how to manage various focuses. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
