Treasuring God’s Word is a walk of faith. It had been in the back of my mind for a long time to write Bible studies. And yet, it always seemed like something that you don’t necessarily volunteer to do. It is an incredible responsibility to guide people into the Word of God, to handle such holy truths. My prayer had always been, “Lord, if this is something you want me to do, guide me into it, pave the way ahead.”
A Reluctant Start to the Story
Pave the way ahead is exactly what He did. For my part, I followed along reluctantly – and reluctantly is a mild term. I never could fully believe what He was doing.
At first, He paved the way for me to begin leading Bible studies. At that time I was doing young adult ministry alongside my husband and a friend of ours. Our friend did the teaching, I was mostly cooking dinners, making brownies, and hanging out until after midnight chatting. Leading a study was nowhere on my radar. Who was I to do this? I struggle to explain what is in my mind. Surely someone else would be better for the job. The Lord silenced me – pointing out that Moses had already tried all these excuses. They don’t work with the Lord, so I reluctantly surrendered.
At that point my thought was to invite the students to work through a study that I was going to do myself. I figured I’d get one or two takers, and every so often after dinner we could say, “How’s your study going?” Needless to say, the Lord had other plans. That summer I led a dozen young people through Galatians. In fall we studied both Hebrews and Lord, Is It Warfare? Help Me to Stand by Kay Arthur.
Growing in faith – and obedience
It wasn’t long before the Lord opened the door to become a trained Precept Ministries Bible study leader. I loved Precept‘s method of study. It resonated well with me, and I realized quickly that much of it was very similar to how I had been studying anyway. The following summer I began leading Precept Upon Precept studies. Even when we moved to a new church, the Lord went ahead of me, paving the way for me to begin leading there.
Training in Bible Study leadership
Every so often the Lord surprises us in a major way. Shortly after I began leading the Precept Studies at Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg, I was given the opportunity to join Precept Ministries as the growth coordinator on the Northern Virginia area team. My role was to introduce ministry leaders and pastors to Precept Ministries, not only serving Precept but also receiving intensive leadership and Bible Study training.
A giant leap of faith
But, you know, the Lord loves to keep us on the edge of our seats in faith. Even as I was going deeper with Precept, and was hoping to become even more involved in the ministry that I loved deeply, the Lord powerfully changed my direction. He called me to Women’s Ministry leadership at my church, giving me responsibility not just for the ladies who were doing the Precept studies, but for all the women. I had to step back from Precept, and focus more at home.
A New Challenge – March 2020
And here’s where Treasuring God’s Word really began. All through 2019, I know that our study at CCFred in the spring of 2020 was going to look a little different. I knew we were going to move away from Precept studies for the first time in a long time, but even as I planned the study I didn’t know the massive turn the world would take in 2020. All I knew was that the Lord had laid on my heart that the focus of our study that year would be to “build community around the Word of God,” with community being the key word.
It was a far cry from my previous vision of training the ladies in how to study God’s Word for themselves. He impressed on me the need to break down as many barriers as possible for the women to become a part of the study. The Lord’s purpose in this study was to collect as many of the women at the church into this study as possible.
When we started the study in March of 2020 it became immediately apparent why. We met for our first lesson in person. But within days everything shut down. Churches closed their doors and we could no longer see each other in person. We became incredibly isolated, but we were ready. Our study went virtual, small groups met over zoom, my teaching went up on YouTube (and that’s a story all in itself!), and we pressed on – in the community that the Lord knew we would vitally need and prepared for us ahead of time.
First steps in writing
When that study was closing it was apparent that the “two weeks” was going to drag into many more months. I wasn’t willing to shut down our studies for the summer as we usually did. After some prayer (and tears, to be honest), the Lord gave me a “one-size-fits-most” study guide for the Psalms that we could do for summer. He laid out a very simple study, one where the gals would do a basic study on their own and I would teach through individual psalms on YouTube. It wasn’t much, but it was something until we could get together again in person.
I still didn’t know what we were going to do for fall. But again, after prayer (and more tears of frustration and denial) and a meeting with my pastor, the Lord led me to keep going with Psalms. This time, though, I would write out an expanded study guide for the ladies to work through. It was the first time I wrote an actual study for anyone to use, and I was watching closely for their reactions. Did they understand what I was getting at? Were the questions clear? Were they accurate? Was there fruit? Was it too much? Too little? I just kept praying as we worked through the study.
Two Additional Bible Studies – Habakkuk and Philippians
Even as we worked through that study in the Psalms, I needed to prepare for spring. I had a plan, but as time went on it became clear that my plan was not the Lord’s. With retreats canceled that year, my friend and I went on a retreat of our own. We both needed time with the Lord to hear from Him.
It was in the middle of the night during that weekend that the Lord gave me the plan for Yet I Will Rejoice and Again I Say Rejoice. He showed me the thematic connections between Habakkuk and Philippians that I had never before noticed. I saw a basic outline of what the studies could look like. And He helped me schedule the time needed for writing so that I could get it all done on time.
We worked these studies back-to-back in the winter and spring of 2021. At that point, I started to settle into writing on a regular basis. It was working well for all of us, the ladies were responding well, and all my prayers seemed to continually lead me in that direction. A number of the ladies were asking if I was planning to publish – and my answer was always, “no, not unless the Lord makes it happen.” My intention was to write for them, do the study with them, and set it aside.
A gift from the Lord
But the Lord just kept paving a path for me to walk. Just as Paul used Olympics metaphors for the Christian walk in his writings, He used the Olympic trials of 2021 to impress on me the need for a “coach” to help me improve as a writer. He kept bringing Kathleen Duncan to mind, even though it had been many years since we had last connected.
I had met Kathleen through Precept several years before. She impressed me with her strong passion for inductive Bible study and willingness to speak the honest truth. I messaged her on Facebook, asking if she would be willing to give feedback. Her response blew me away. The Lord used Kathleen to convince me to publish, and unbelievably she graciously offered to be my editor.
The Birth of Treasuring God’s Word
We settled on starting with Yet I Will Rejoice, primarily because it was the closest to being ready for publication. Kathleen spent months giving me the critical feedback and constructive advice that I needed. Finally, we were ready to send this first study off to Amazon to see what the Lord would do from there.
Meanwhile, I was still in prayer. Kathleen and I knew that there was potential for a whole series. For my part, I was very hesitant to have my name all over everything. I firmly believe that this is not about me at all. So I just kept praying. I wrote in my prayer journal one night, “Lord, if you want this to become a ‘thing,’ it needs a name, because I don’t want it to go under my own name.” The next day, not knowing my prayer, Kathleen called and suggested, “How about Treasuring God’s Word as a series name”? And so here we are!
The story continues
It’s been about 3 years now, and we now have four studies completed! It is amazing to see the Lord using these studies all over the United States and even into Canada. Women are going deep into the Word of God. They are amazed at how God speaks to them when they read the Scriptures over and over, digging deep to understand exactly what it is that the Spirit is saying in His Word. They are learning to treasure the truths that are revealed when we simply allow God to speak, when we intentionally seek His understanding, and when we determine to live according to His truth.
Be a part of the story!
My name may be on the cover, but this is more than just me. The Lord is assembling a team of editors, proof-readers, prayer warriors, encouragers, and so many others that are passionate about what He is doing here. Without them, I never would have started.
See for yourself – every study has the first lesson available on this site. Work through it, and when you are ready for more, pick up a copy of the full study. This is all for His glory, for His pleasure, for His people. He is moving. Will you come along?
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