Answering God's Call: How to Arise and Shine

Summary

In this foundational episode of the Arise, Women of God podcast, hosts Tamara K. Anderson, Wendi Christensen, and advisory board member Tiffany Fletcher delve into the profound meaning of "arise." This isn't just about waking up; it's a divine invitation to step into your purpose, grow, and overcome life's challenges. Discover how to identify and embrace God's whispers, even when they feel stretching or uncomfortable.

Tiffany shares powerful insights into the word "arise," from getting up to moving forward, emphasizing the spiritual beauty in each definition. Wendi opens up about the natural hesitation that comes with answering God's call, reminding us that it's normal to question "Me?" before embracing the excitement. Hear Tiffany's deeply personal story of returning to graduate school at 49, a journey filled with breakdowns and breakthroughs, illustrating the power of cheerfully submitting to God's will.

We explore the vital role of stillness amidst busyness to hear God's voice, drawing inspiration from the story of Jairus's daughter, the prodigal son, and the parable of the Ten Virgins. Learn practical ways to create space for your calling, including the concept of a "not to do" list. This episode affirms that women are God's "secret weapon," uniquely attuned to answering God's call and stepping forward in faith. Plus, discover the fierce strength found in a supportive community of women cheering each other on. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion that will empower you to arise, shine, and fulfill your divine potential!

Takeaways

1. "Arise" is a Divine Invitation to Growth: The word "arise" extends beyond simply waking up; it's a spiritual call from God to step into a higher version of yourself, embrace your divine purpose, and overcome personal challenges, even when it feels uncomfortable.
2. Hesitation is Normal, But Trust God's Calling: It's natural to feel doubt or ask "Why me?" when God extends an invitation to do something challenging. However, the episode emphasizes that God sees your potential and will equip you, encouraging listeners to move past self-doubt and embrace the excitement of their calling.
3. Stillness and Introspection are Crucial for Hearing God's Voice: Amidst life's busyness and overwhelm, intentionally quieting your mind and reflecting allows you to hear God's whispers. This stillness helps clarify what you need to start, stop, or pivot in order to align with His will.
4. You Are Not Alone in Your Journey; God Provides Support: Whether it's through His direct guidance (taking you "by the hand") or by sending supportive people (a "tribe" of women, or specific helpers like a counselor), God is with you every step of the way. Leaning on community and asking God for help in finding the right support is vital.
5. Answering God's Call Transforms You (and Prepares the World): Stepping into God's call, even when it's messy or doesn't look as you imagined, leads to personal transformation. Furthermore, the episode highlights that women, in particular, are called to shine their light and help prepare the world for the future, using their unique talents to glorify God.

Host & Guests

Tamara K. Anderson @tamarakanderson

Tamara, founder of Women Warriors of Light, is a dynamic speaker, award winning author, and a podcaster. She is driven by her Christian faith to inspire faith in Jesus Christ. Alongside her husband, Justin, she navigates the joys and challenges of parenting four children with autism, ADHD, and mental health hurdles. You can find out more about Tamara on her website: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/

Wendi Christensen @wendichristensencounseling

Wendi is the co-founder of Women Warriors of Light. In addition to being a wife and mother, she is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 30 years of experience. Wendi is an intuitive counselor helping individuals release pain, renew hope, and restore light through forgiveness. You can find out more about Wendi on her website: https://wendichristensencounseling.com/

Tiffany Fletcher @tiffnyfletcher

Tiffany is a member of our Women Warriors of Light advisory board. She is an author, wife, mother and an example of faith & courage. Through her life experiences she shares hope in coming from a place of darkness to light and love. You can find her on social media @tiffanyfletcher or on her blog: motherhadasecret.blogspot.com

Transcript

Tamara K. Anderson

00:00:00.480 - 00:00:34.220

Have you ever felt God inviting you to do something that stretches you a little bit, to rise up and become better than you are? Today we are going to talk all about that and how it's possible to do it sanely. So stay tuned.

Are you a woman who knows God is calling you to something more, but you're unsure where to start or how to grow it into something impactful? You are not alone, and you're in the right place.

Intro/Outro

00:00:34.860 - 00:01:15.120

Welcome to the Arise Women of God podcast, a show for Christian women who feel called to shine his light and step into their divine purpose.

Each week you'll hear stories of faithful women, both from the Bible and today, who heard God's voice and chose to say yes even when it felt uncomfortable or uncertain, to step with faith into the unknown. You'll walk away with encouragement, spiritual insight, and practical steps to follow those holy promptings in your own life.

So let's arise together as women warriors of Light. Let's do it God's way, God's strong.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:01:19.280 - 00:01:42.220

Hello and welcome to the Arise Women of God podcast.

We are so excited to be with you today as we're rebranding this podcast from Bible Women in Bathrobes to Arise Women God. And we are excited for this new pivot. It's been kind of fun. And joining me today is my co founder of Women warriors of Light, Wendy Christensen.

Wendi, thanks for being here.

Wendi Christensen

00:01:42.780 - 00:01:44.460

Hey, I'm so glad to be here with you.

Wendi Christensen

00:01:44.460 - 00:01:46.220

Tamara and

Tamara K. Anderson

00:01:46.700 - 00:01:52.460

Tiffany. Tiffany Fletcher is a member of our advisory board. And thank you for being here, Tiffany.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:01:52.700 - 00:01:55.980

Oh, thank you for having me. I'm really honored to be here today. Thank you.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:01:57.110 - 00:03:05.830

All right, guys, as we kick this off, we just want to let you know that you can still expect a podcast every week. We're going to keep going every week.

We will still be talking about women and principles in the Bible that we can kind of glean and apply to ourselves as women today as we feel God calling us to step up and move forward.

And we will also begin the process of interviewing women who have done this and hearing a little bit of their stories, because often stories really inspire us and we may find things in those that resonate with us and help us progress in our journey a little bit better. So we will also have episodes like that, so look forward to those.

But today we're going to kick this off by looking at this new title, Arise Women of God. And so I thought I would invite Tiffany to kick us off with kind of helping us define what. What does the word arise mean?

And we'll look at it both from a definition standpoint and then kind of from this spiritual standpoint of God inviting us to stand and be better. Go ahead, Tiffany.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:03:06.470 - 00:06:21.190

Thank you. So as you know, I am a writer and so words, they are really matter to me and I love to learn the meaning of them.

So when we were talking about this title, I looked up the word arise and here are just some of the things, some of the definitions of arise.

So to begin to occur or to exist, to come into being or to attention, to originate from a source, to get up or stand up, to wake up and to move forward or ascend. And I just wanted to share. I love these definitions because if you really listen to those from a spiritual standpoint, they are beautiful.

I mean the first one to begin to occur or to exist, to come into being or to attention.

I think sometimes we are so, so busy in this busy world of ours that we don't pay attention, that we aren't aware that God is speaking to us and giving us invitations to do more with our lives. And we just kind of get in the thick of, of thin things, right?

And that we don't, we don't wake up, we don't stand up, we don't, we don't pay attention to those, the next one to originate from our source. God is our source.

And if we anchor ourselves in him and originate our thoughts and everything that we do in from him, imagine the good that we can do. Imagine how we can be his hands on this earth. So that's so important to get up or stand up.

I think sometimes in this world to be a Christian is hard because there are so. There's so much anti Christian rhetoric that, that goes around it that sometimes we need to stand up. Sometimes we.

God needs women and men who are willing to stand up and say, I am a disciple of Christ and He matters in my life and he can matter in your life too, if you allow it. And then the. To wake up. I think sometimes we are slumbering, right?

That says in the Bible there's so many scriptures about oh ye that are slumbering, wake up, right? So he's inviting us to wake up, to wake up to our, to our calling and to who we are and then the last one to move forward or ascend.

I think sometimes we feel stuck in life. We don't know what we're supposed to do as moms.

Especially sometimes we get stuck in the rut of everyday things and question is, is there something better? Is there something more that I'm supposed to do? With my life. And I think sometimes it gets a little overwhelming. But truly, if we.

If we want to ascend, if we want to move forward in our life, like, it's worth asking Heavenly Father, and sometimes those things that he's asking us to do, they. They fit into our lives very easily. Like, maybe he's just asking us to pray more so that we get more revelation for our children.

Maybe he's asking us to go for a walk with our children and experience. Experience nature so that they can feel his love.

Maybe he's just inviting us to help our children feel the Savior's love more and know who he is in their life. It's. It's super simple and.

But I can guarantee you that if you ask the question, God is going to give you something that is going to allow you to arise and step into who he needs you to be, even just for a little bit every single day, he will give us those answers. So I'm so excited for this new direction. So thank you for letting me kick it off with that explanation.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:06:22.040 - 00:06:33.720

I love that so much. Thank you for kind of helping us peek into what it means to arise.

Wendy, were there any things that she said that resonated with you that you wanted to comment on?

Wendi Christensen

00:06:34.440 - 00:07:29.390

Oh, so many things. And probably the biggest thing I was thinking, though, Tiffany, is you were describing arise sometimes.

It was kind of like this morning when my alarm went off to do the podcast. I was like, why am I getting up so early?

I think along with that is what sometimes, like, God is calling us, and we hear the calling and we think, me, really me. You want me. Like, are you sure about that? Are you sure this is the person that you want is me?

And I think it's also normal and natural to question that, but then to get that excitement.

Because once I realized this morning, oh, that's right, we're doing our podcast, I got so excited to get up and get ready because I was like, oh, let's hit this. Let's get going. And because God is calling and I'm ready, and I'm so excited to record this.

And so at first, I think it's normal and very natural to have hesitation or I don't know if I really want to do this.

Wendi Christensen

00:07:29.390 - 00:07:30.470

Am I ready for this?

Wendi Christensen

00:07:30.790 - 00:07:45.430

And then to realize and put our heart into it and go, you know what? If he sees it and he believes in me, then I can do it, too. I can see it.

I can believe in myself in this getting up and arising and just being excited and just having that excitement to get up and go.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:07:46.080 - 00:08:16.160

Mm. I think that invitation to arise is accompanied often by those extreme feelings. There's, it's kind of, it's kind of a mishmash of feelings. Right.

It's the I'm excited, but yet I'm scared spitless, all in the same kind of event. I know. Tiffany, a few months ago, you felt impressed to go back to school.

And why don't you tell me some of the emotions that you felt with that and how hard it has been.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:08:16.810 - 00:11:10.700

I'm gonna start crying. I'm at that stage where my kids are leaving home. And I also, I'm a writer. I've been a writer by trade. And I lost my biggest client and I went to God.

I asked him the question, okay, what's next? What do you want me to do with this time coming up in my life? And do you want me to stay as a writer? Do you want me to do something different?

And I have a wonderful husband who's like, have you ever thought about going back to school? And I'm like, I'm 49 years old. I do not need to go back to school. You know, I've got a degree in English. It served me well.

I don't need anything more than. Then he's like, well, if you could do anything, what would you want to do? And I really pondered that.

And the thought was, I've worked a lot with women in my faith, in my church callings, in my life, and I really enjoyed the one on one counseling that I got to do with those women. And so I felt really impressed to go back to be, to do master's, a master's in clinical mental health counseling.

And I, I truly believe it's what God wants me to do. I feel like as we move forward to his second coming, there's going to be a lot of hard things.

And he needs our minds firm and he needs, he needs women who are willing to step into that and help other people keep their minds firm. And so, but it's still, it was a challenge because I still have kids at home. I still have a 17 year old daughter.

I have, you know, young adults who were in college themselves going to college. And here God is like, I want you to step into this too.

And, and, and let me tell you, it has been one of the most challenging things I have been asked to do in my adult life.

It going back to school after two decades, going back to graduate school after two decades of not being in school and just being a mom, I mean, and a writer. But but mostly homeschooling my kids. It was a real trust in faith for me to do that. But I trust that God, I know that he's with me.

And even on the days where I'm like, I just can't do this, Heavenly Father, he's like, you can do hard things, and I'm asking you to do hard things. And I like, it's funny that you ask, because yesterday I literally had a breakdown. I just had a complete. Like, I cannot do this.

And I went to church, and the person who spoke talked about the importance of cheerfully submitting to the things that God's asking us to do. And it was. It was such a perspective shift. I mean, I teach people this all the time. You know, you need to have a cheerful perspective.

But for me, the spirit whispered, you have two years of this. So you can. Either there's two ways of doing this. You can go through kicking against the pricks and.

And just focusing on the hard, or you can cheerfully submit to what I'm asking you to do, and I will help you with it, and you will get through it, and in the end, it will be more glorious than you can even now imagine.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:11:10.830 - 00:11:10.990

So.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:11:11.300 - 00:11:39.860

So those are your two choices. Which one do you want to choose? So I think sometimes God asks us to do really hard things, and we're like, I'm not capable. I can't do that. And.

And we use I can't to get in the way of what we can do and what he needs us to do, because we can do all things with his help. And we.

That's an important distinction to remember that when he asks you to step into something, he will be with you every step of the way so that you can accomplish whatever it is that he asks you to do.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:11:40.540 - 00:13:44.790

That is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that personal story. Because that is what. That's where the rubber meets the road, right?

That's where things kind of come together.

I know that as we kind of stepped into the title of this podcast, the one verse that Tiffany commented on and that popped into my mind first, as far as arise is that beautiful verse when Jesus is invited to the heal or to come help the daughter of Jairus. This is the verse in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 41. As you know, he put out everybody who was laughing at them. Brought the mom and dad in. We.

We kind of talked about this in an episode last year when we dove into her story, but this is what it says. And he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, talitha Kumai which is being interpreted. Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And I love this.

I love this in so many ways. I love that first of all, she was dead, right? The state of being, she was gone from this world. But I love that he took her by the hand.

I think there's some symbolism in that and we can get into that, but. And then he invited her to arise. So I think these whispers, these times that we kind of quiet our mind and say, God, what do you want me to do?

How do you want me to solve this situation with my family or with work or with whatever we still ourselves. And we listen. He will grab our hand and say, here's how I want you to arise. You're in a hard place.

Maybe you feel kind of dead inside or you feel a lack. You need something to progress. And he inspires and whispers what it is we need to do to step forward. Wendi, any thoughts on this?

And then we'll have Tiffany comment.

Wendi Christensen

00:13:45.590 - 00:15:38.340

It's interesting, as you kept saying, to be still in order to arise. I mean, obviously she was still, right? She was. She was dead at the moment.

One thing that when I'm working with a lot of women that I think is really easy because of all of the things that we have on our plates, is to be still. Because overwhelm sets in, right? How many of us have felt so overwhelmed? I've got so many things to do, so many things on my plate.

I find that many of us don't sit still like we should. And so a big part of that, I think Tamara, is just being still, taking a minute to quiet ourselves amidst the.

I need to go and do and be busy in that busyness. And there's always a lot of lessons around busyness and being still.

But those I think, that learn the most at the Savior's feet literally were like the Mary's in.

In the story with Mary and Martha, that we take a minute to be still and to listen to what he's telling us so that we can realize that we are enough with him. Because without him, we're not. We're really not enough. But with him, we are enough.

And I think in those moments, if we will just take one or two minutes even and just think about him, what is it that he wants me to do? I think it was inspiring, Tiffany, that you were like, okay, what's next? What do I do?

But sitting in the calm for a minute in order to even hear his voice. Because when we do that, we will hear his voice. Voice in some way or form. We'll hear his voice in the being still.

Because that overwhelm and that busyness can, I think, get the best of us. But as we do that, he can have and whisper those moments of, hey, it is time to arise. Are you ready? Let's go.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:15:40.180 - 00:15:40.660

Yeah.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:15:40.980 - 00:15:41.700

Tiffany,

Tiffany Fletcher

00:15:42.660 - 00:17:20.040

it's interesting as you're reading it this time. I never really thought about this before, you know, as she was dead, but, like, he.

He literally raised her from a state of being, you know, being dead. And I think that sometimes we, as women, we get so caught up in the busy world that we.

We try to put all of our emotions aside so we can just get it done right? We just are like, I can't feel that right now. I can't do that right now. I just gotta. I just gotta get this done.

And I think sometimes part of being still is being willing to be comfortable with the emotions that come up with being still.

Because sometimes God's gonna say, what you're doing right now isn't working for you, and I'm gonna need you to do some hard things in so that you can become who I need you to be. Right? Like, for me, I mean, as I'm going through this program, as I was I. Before we came on, I was saying all my stuff is coming up like.

Like I'm doing these. This work to be a counselor, to help other people, and all my stuff is coming up. What's going on? But. But it. As Wendy said, it's normal and natural.

And I think sometimes God's going to say, I need you to sit with your emotions and you need to figure this out so that you can then come to yourself. I love that. That scripture that he talks about, the. The prod. He came to himself and he's like, wait, I am my father's son and I need to move.

You know, I need to go back to him. And I think sometimes God is inviting us to come to ourself and realize we are our father's daughter.

And there are things that he needs us to do and things that we promised him that we would do because we are his daughters. And he's asking us, okay, this is.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:17:20.040 - 00:17:20.600

He'll.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:17:20.680 - 00:18:22.560

He'll invite us. And it's really important to ask the question, right? What can I. What am I lacking that. What do I need to stop doing?

Like, I. I try very often to ask God two questions. What can I stop doing that is keeping me from being the person you need me to be?

And what can I start doing to help me become the person that you need me to be. And I think if we're really comfortable with those questions, in being still, God will direct us in remarkable ways.

And sometimes one of the things he asks is do. Like, for me, I'm like, God, what should I stop doing? Like, stop complaining. Like, that's something that you need to do.

You need to stop complaining, and you just need to do what I'm asking you to do. Right? Because complaining keep us from the spirit. If we're complaining constantly, the spirit has a hard time speaking to us.

And so something as simple as try not to complain, try to play the glad game and see the good in the. In the situation, in the world and in people, it makes all the difference.

And so I think that sometimes he invites us to rise up from the state of being that we are in, to embrace something new so that we can become his miracles in this life.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:18:24.270 - 00:22:17.200

I love that. I love what you both shared here. It's so important to realize that God has our best interest at heart. He knows what we need to do to move forward.

And sometimes it is. It is letting go of some things that we're currently doing. I know one of the things we.

We have taught from the beginning with Women warriors of Light is as women feel called to step into something, to go through and do a not to do list.

And that sounds really funny, but you kind of list everything that you're doing, and then you pray, like Tiffany said, and you take it to God and you say, okay, God, here's all the things that I'm doing. If you want me to step up and do something more, what am I removing from my life? And sometimes they are good things.

I taught a podcasting class in the spring, and one of the ladies came on and she said, I did the exercise, and I feel like here I've been volunteering in special needs classroom, and I do it like three times a week, and God said, you can cut it back to once a week. And she's just like, oh, but I love doing this. Do you know what I mean?

The crazy thing about asking is then you know what you're supposed to do, and so you're held accountable. Okay, I need to cut it back.

Even though it's something good and it brings her joy, you know, okay, now I've got to cut that out of my life or just pivot slightly so that I have time and energy to do the things. And I also love Tiffany how here you are moving forward, and yet God is bringing up things that you need to let go of from Your past.

And I found that to be true as well, that often, and this is funny, because I'll feel like God saying, you need to go see Wendy again. And Wendy is my counselor. We're good friends too, which helps. But often there's something I need to unpack, to kind of arise to the next level.

And so I'll go and I'll meet with her. And I feel like £50 has just been lifted off my shoulders.

And I'm like, oh, and now because I don't have those 50 pounds that I'm carrying around emotionally or whatever, I can move forward and I can arise higher because the principle is you can't lift people higher than you are. So you. You have to be at a higher plane in order to help other people rise. And so I think.

I think this invitation of God asking women to arise is one to. That also begins with a little bit of introspection in ourselves. What do I need to do better? What things can I get rid of?

What things can I put in their place that are a better fit for the new Tamra, the new Wendy, the new Tiffany? Right? And so it's beautiful. You, Tiffany, you mentioned the prodigal son story.

And I love that after he came to himself, and this is Luke, chapter 15, he. He realized his lack. He finally realized, oh, my goodness, look how far I've fallen. My. My dad's servants don't even have this.

This level of depravity. You know, I'm eating corn husks with pigs. This is terrible. And the words he says in verse 18 are, I will arise and go to my Father.

And so sometimes we need to recognize where we have fallen. Maybe it's that spiritual I am dead inside, or something needs to change, and I desire to change. And I think that desire is what moves us forward.

I'm going to desire, I'm going to ask, and then I'm going to act. So many good things here. Tiffany, anything you want to comment on or another verse that you found particularly meaningful?

Tiffany Fletcher

00:22:17.200 - 00:22:20.000

As we were studying for Arise.

Tiffany Fletcher

00:22:20.640 - 00:24:56.700

Trying to tag on to what you were saying. I, you know, further down in that it talks about how his father ran to him and I.

And I think sometimes we're afraid to go to Heavenly Father or even ask the question because we're like, well, what if he doesn't want me? Or what if he doesn't answer me? Or. Or what if. What if. What if, you know, And.

And I think that if we need to understand, as women and as daughters of God, how valuable we are to him how much he loves us and how much he wants to run to us. And so when we are willing to put the. Put down the things of the world and. And.

And run to him, he is there when we come to ourselves and we run to him and recognize that who we are as his daughters, he will run to us, and he will put that coat on us, and he will invite us to a banquet, and he will celebrate for us. And. And. And it's interesting. Like, he wants us to be the best that we can be in this life. He also needs our help to help move his work forward.

And so we can trust that when he invites us to do something, he is going to back it up. And it may not come all at once. I mean, as women warriors, right? Like, it's been a long process, right? T. You can attest, like, it's a lot. And it's.

And it's a lot of refocusing, and it's a lot of doing something and God saying, wait, okay, this is what I needed to do then. Now I need you to pivot now. Which is exactly why this is happening. You know, this rebranding is because it.

God said, I need you to walk this direction. And then he's like, okay, you've done great. Now I need you to walk this direction. But every step of the way, he's running with us, right?

He's never leaving us alone to figure it out. He is. He is walking with us. And.

And I think that that's important for us as women to recognize, one, that God is going to run to us, and he's going to back us up, and he's going to help us. And two, it's not going to look like what you think it's going to look like.

So be prepared to be flexible and to do it the best that you can and give yourself grace when God's like, I need you to pivot. You know, like, I took Tamara's podcast, and by the way, just a plug for this. It was amazing. So if anyone wants to do a pod cast, I suggest it.

But then at the end of that, like, it was literally the last week, God's like, tiffany, I need you to pivot. I need you to go to graduate school. And I was like, but I was going to start a podcast. And I was like, yeah, well, that.

That'll probably come down the line. But right now, I need you to go to graduate school.

And so I think we just need to recognize one, God run to us, and two is not going to look like what we think it's going to look like.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:24:57.900 - 00:25:25.250

Yeah. I love how you commented there that he's going to walk with us, and I love the symbolism.

If we go back to that first story of Jesus taking her by the hand first, this is not something he's calling us to do alone. You can walk hand in hand with God with it. It's going to be hard, but you're not alone doing it.

Wendi, any thoughts on what we've been saying or another verse that stood out to you that you'd like to share?

Wendi Christensen

00:25:27.090 - 00:26:12.350

Yeah, I mean, so many beautiful thoughts, you guys.

It's been so wonderful to hear and listen and something that's interesting in the work that I do is I have, you know, I meet with lots of women and, and men as well, and. But I find with the women, as I meet with them, women just have this special sense about them where they listen to the Lord, right.

They have this spiritual ability or this ability to be able to hear the Lord. Not that men don't, they do, but I feel like women are a little more in tune with it, right? They can hear when he's of calling, and it's interesting.

They hear him calling. And then the second thing is, I think they second guess themselves. Like, wait, me, wait, was it me.

Wendi Christensen

00:26:12.350 - 00:26:13.630

He was wanting to do?

Wendi Christensen

00:26:14.190 - 00:28:41.990

But they keep getting called and then they step into it, just like you have been talking about they so many times. I'll have women say, I feel like, I feel like God wants me to do this, right?

To write a book or to do a podcast or to help, to go back to school, to help this person, my neighbor, that I'm supposed to step into it and then. But I'm not sure how to do it. And I feel like that's what, that's what God. That's why he's like, arise, arise and come.

Because I know that it's going to be challenging and I know that you're going to have those limits or limitations, but that's what he's always done. If you look at the Savior throughout, throughout the time that he served and the things that he did, he.

He relied upon the women to be the ones to be there, right? It was Mary that came to the tomb first and realized and believed.

And it was, it was the women who were like, yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to pour this expensive oil on his feet. I know what I'm doing, right? They listened and they, they did, and they abided by him and with him.

And I think there's just this beautiful, special thing about women that they will listen when they're called and that they will step into it no matter how hard or difficult or even if it doesn't make sense, right? And I feel like women are God's special secret weapon. He's, like, had them in store.

We're going through these really difficult times where I feel like it's just the last days before Christ our Savior comes.

And he's like, I'm calling up this secret weapon because they'll listen, first of all, because there's so many distractions in the world, so much going on. But I know that the women will hear me, and I know that they'll listen, and that they'll go, okay, what do you need me to do, Lord?

And that they'll step into it. So we're his secret weapon, and he's calling us. And in whatever thing that you need to do, he has a reason for you to step into it.

And he has something that you offer, something special that you offer. He knows it's important, and he's calling you to do it, and he's wanting you to do it. And I think the scripture that I saw was actually.

Tamara, you had shared it. It's Isaiah 61:2. Do you mind if I read that one?

Tamara K. Anderson

00:28:42.150 - 00:28:42.870

Go right ahead.

Wendi Christensen

00:28:43.220 - 00:29:48.720

That one stood out to me. Verse one, it says, arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the law of the Lord is risen upon thee. So he's calling right in verse two.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people. Is that not our day? Right. But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

The Lord is going to call you, and through you we will see his glory because you're willing to accept that call. I just think that's such a beautiful verse that he's like, the Lord's calling you, and we'll hear it. And we do hear it again time after time.

I hear people, these women. I feel like I'm supposed to do something. I feel like God wants me. I feel called to do this. I feel called to do this.

And a lot of it is because of the huge challenges that they've been through in their lives, that they feel called and ready to do things because they hear, they listen, and they hear the Lord. So I feel honored to be among so many great and incredible women that feel called to do something.

And even though it's really hard and difficult, they're willing to accept it. They don't know what to do, but.

Wendi Christensen

00:29:48.720 - 00:29:49.720

They'Re like, I'll do it.

Wendi Christensen

00:29:50.040 - 00:30:29.100

And I love that. I love that about women. And I feel like that's why I love women warriors of light.

Because really, God has called these special women warriors of light to step up and to arise. And he'll. He'll bless us and help us through that because we're glorifying him.

And because of that, he'll give us the ability and the capability to sometimes even see what that is. Right. Sometimes it's like, why me? And he's like, because you have this gift, you have this ability, you have this talent. That's why I need you.

And he needs all of us. And there's room and space for all of us to step up and arise.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:30:29.900 - 00:30:45.980

Yeah, it's kind of an all hands on deck invitation. Come on, ladies, stand up. We need all of you. We need all of you to stand and arise. All right, let's do some final takeaways.

And, Tiffany, why don't you kick us off with that?

Tiffany Fletcher

00:30:47.660 - 00:34:05.140

When Wendi was talking, I. I thought of the. The story of the ten virgins.

And I just thought about how when the call came for the bridegroom that the bridegroom was coming, they had to arise and they had to leave, because that's what their job was, to come out and to light the way for the. To meet the Savior and to come light the way for him into the. Into the feast. Right. That was their job.

And I feel like he is essentially saying, I'm coming. I need those women who are willing to come out with their lights shining brightly to meet me and to help light the way for my second coming.

I mean, that's one of the reasons it's so interesting. Like.

Like, this is very personal to me, but one of the reasons why I felt like mental health counseling is where I needed to go is because God said, I need you to help prepare the minds for the second coming. Like, it was very clear to me. That is why I need you to help prepare the minds for my second coming. So they will be ready to receive me when I.

And I feel like that is what he is doing. He is saying, come out, arise. Come meet me. I'm here. Come meet me and bring your light with you. Whatever talents you have, bring those with you.

Because we all have the same goal, and that is to meet Jesus and light the way using the unique talents and gifts that we have to help prepare the world for his return. And that is our divine mission. And that is a beautiful gift that he's given. Us.

And I think of this a coincidence that they were 10 virgins, that they were women that he was inviting to come out. That is part of it. That is part of. Because what, like Wendy said, we listen.

And he needs people who are willing to not just listen, but to obey and to come out when he asks us to. To arise, to meet him, to prepare the world for his. For his return, for him to come to the wedding feast.

What a beautiful invitation our Lord and Savior has given us to come out of the wedding feast and to meet him and to light the world for Him. I. I am so honored that that is a invitation he has given us. And I hope that as we move forward in. In this beautiful Women warriors of Light, that.

That people understand that the invitation is for everyone.

And part of this community is to help people, help us as women have other women, to help champion us and to help strengthen us and to help us move as we are, as we are moving through. I. I'm sorry, I might go a little bit longer, because there's actually another scripture that just came to my mind when.

When the Lord reaches out his hand to help the leper or the man that was the lame man, he lifts him up, and as soon as he lifts him up, it says his ankles and his feet were strengthened. And. And you can trust that as soon as you come out to meet the Savior, as soon as you take his hand, that he will strengthen you.

And that's what this community is about, is helping to strengthen the women so that they can go forward and do the things that the Lord is asking them to do in their lives. And what a wonderful, beautiful opportunity we have to be those women for our Savior.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:34:06.340 - 00:34:09.540

Oh, thank you so much, Wendi. Final thought.

Wendi Christensen

00:34:10.830 - 00:35:48.210

That is just so beautiful. Tiffany, thank you for sharing. And I. I love those stories of how the Savior, again, just steps right into it.

1. I was thinking as she was talking, people make fun of it, but you know when you. When you go to the bathroom and you're with a group of friends and everyone's like, oh, let's all go together.

Let's all go to the bathroom together, which men make fun of. But that's the one thing that I think is very unique about women. We can tear each other apart really easily.

We can be mean girls, and we can compare and think less of ourselves and compare to other women, or when you step into a space where you build together as women, it's one of the fiercest, strongest groups that you will find. People even refer to it as, like, your tribe. Your tribe of women.

But when you step into that beautiful space and that tribe of women where you're going to support each other, you're going to uplift each other, you're going to help each other, there's no better place to be than in a space like that. And that is one thing that I do love about women warriors of Light is it's this place of cheering each other on in your calling with Christ.

Whatever it is, whatever that special thing is, don't compare to other people. Because God needs your ability. We need you.

He needs you and your specific talents and abilities because you have been given something that will bless his kingdom and he's calling you. And if you'll step into it, he'll step in side by side with you and help you.

Tamara K. Anderson

00:35:49.570 - 00:37:15.490

Oh, thank you so much. My takeaway is that God is with us in the journey and he also sends people to help us along the way.

I know I had to pray them to me when I was initially called to be a writer. And I'm like, you need to send somebody to help me with this. And he put the right person in my path.

And so don't be afraid to go right back to God, okay? If you're calling me to do this, help me find the right person to help me do that. And he does. He will open the door. So trust God in this process.

It looks a little messy sometimes, and it, like Tiffany said, it won't look like you imagined it would, but who you become through him and trusting him is amazing and glorious. And I'm so thankful for his call to arise for me. It has changed my life.

And so, ladies, at this point in the podcast, we want to let you know God loves you so very much and that his calling to you is perfect and right for you, and he will guide you. So we conclude this with Arise, Women of God. You've got this. You can walk it with Him.

Intro/Outro

00:37:15.490 - 00:38:10.690

Thanks for tuning in to the Arise Women of God podcast, brought to you by Women warriors of Light.

If you're feeling unsure how to move forward in your calling or just tired of doing it alone, visit womenwarriorsoflight.com you'll find resources, accountability, and a community of women who get it. Sometimes the calling feels bigger than you. That's when you need steady reminders of the powerful God who called you.

Subscribe now for weekly inspiration and the courage to keep going. Because with him, nothing is impossible. And you're not the only one. God is calling that friend on your heart right now.

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