Guest Blogger ... Pat Ennis

Though I grew up in a Christian home and thought I accepted Christ at the age of ten at Vacation Bible School, I did not mature as a believer. As I entered my teen years and my elderly parents’ health declined, I acquired a negative, cynical outlook on life. My father passed away during the first week of my freshman year of college, and my mother followed on, my second day as a new teacher. I recall my pastor putting his arm around me at my mother’s funeral and saying, “We’ll see you in church on Sunday.” Outwardly I simply nodded my head; while inwardly I thought, “I have attended church since I was an infant; it has done nothing for me, and I have better things to do with my Sundays.”

As I settled into my role as a new professional, from outward appearances my life appeared ideal—I had a good job, a boy friend, and discretionary financial resources for the first time in my life. As well, I had a number of good friends, and was in an upward career track in my profession. Despite all of the “good things” that were happening externally, I experienced an internal, gnawing hunger. I vividly recall returning home from a date one Friday night and saying to my roommate, “I don’t know what you are doing Sunday, but I am going to church.” Since she didn’t have other plans she agreed to attend with me. I did not want to return to my childhood church so we attended one about a mile from home. Tim LaHaye was the pastor, and before we left the church that Sunday, individually, we both made certain that we were a part of God’s family (see Romans 3:10, 3:23, 5:8, 5:12, 6:23, 10:9-11, 10:13, 1 Corinthians 5:17).

As an educated woman I was excited to both learn from a gifted pastor and study the Word of God on my own (Pastor LaHaye consistently repeated, “No Bible, no breakfast!”). I experienced an insatiable hunger for spiritual truth—and as the weeks passed, I experienced a decline in my internal, gnawing hunger. The glamour subsided, however, when I was confronted with biblical standards about the role of women. As with Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan tried his lies on me, saying in essence: “Surely your loving heavenly Father did not mean that you, an educated woman, would be subjected to those archaic standards!” (Genesis 3:1-7). By God’s grace I did not linger to discuss the matter with him but rather continued “to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). As a result of my growth I have learned that . . .

· My heavenly Father does not offer a “cafeteria plan” for obedience (James 2:8-13). We live in a world that promotes, “have things your own way.” I learned that to please my heavenly Father I needed to respond to all of His instructions with an obedient spirit (2 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 51:16-17). I am not to merely pick and choose those that appealed to me. I also learned that asking forgiveness rather than permission was an unacceptable behavior (James 4:17).

· God’s Word is true whether or not I choose to embrace its teaching (Hebrews 4:12-13). I began to mature spiritually at a time when mini-skirts were the rage—and though my skirts were not as short as some others, they were definitely shorter than what belonged on a woman desiring to reflect godly character. It seemed that every time my friend and I attended a worship service Pastor LaHaye somehow integrated skirt lengths into the sermon (his recurring statement went something like, “children used to hide behind their mother’s skirts—now they can’t reach them!”). Consequently, “roast pastor” was often one of the entrees for our Sunday lunch, and we frequently questioned one another with, “what is his problem?” Again, however, as we studied the Scriptures and desired to respond in obedience to them, we found that we chose to lengthen our skirts (1 Timothy 2:9; 1 Peter 3:1-6). It was not long until we realized that the problem was not Pastor LaHaye’s, but ours.

· My Creator has no obligation to explain His reasoning to me (Isaiah 45:9, Romans 11:33-36). I learned a valuable lesson from my parents that helped immensely in my spiritual growth. As a child I often lacked the maturity to understand the reasons that motivated their decisions. However, as I matured, I frequently understood why they insisted that I follow their instructions or why their answer was sometimes “no” to my heartfelt pleas. My father often said that as I increased in age he gained more wisdom—and he seldom changed his reasoning. What had changed is that my relationship to my father had matured, and he had proved himself credible over a long period of time. The same thing is true in our relationship with our heavenly Father. At times we make a judgment about the validity of His instructions before we have cultivated a trustworthy relationship with Him. Second Peter 3:18 encourages us “to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” and as we do, the more His character will be reflected in our lives and the less concerned we will be about understanding all of the “whys.”

· I must exercise faith to embrace teaching that is contrary to cultural trends (Hebrews 11:6). When God’s instructions deviate from what society says will make me happy, I am to trust that “no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). My only responsibility is to make sure that I am choosing to walk uprightly—and that is an act of the will, not the emotions.

As you seek to mature as a believer will you choose, as I do daily, to exercise your will and eagerly embrace God’s special instructions to you? I believe you will be happy with an affirmative decision!


Pat has graciously offered one copy of her book Designing A Lifestyle that Pleases God for us to giveaway. Please leave a comment here to be entered and we will randomly draw a winner next week.

posted by Margaret McSweeney @ 5:55 AM