I’m honored to be sharing my space today with Lindsay McPhail. Lindsay is a woman of passion and gumption. She has impacted my life by inspiring me to live my story unafraid, and to step out into the places the Lord is calling me. Lindsay is the real deal. She loves Jesus like it’s a fire in her bones and she is passionate about calling out the fearlessness in other women.
She started an event here locally for women, called Fight Night. I know what you’re thinking- that it sounds super badass- and it kind of is, actually. But it’s not some kind seedy, underground, Fight Club type deal if that’s what you were imagining. It’s women getting together and choosing to let their guard down, be real with each other and Jesus, and tell their stories.
Lindsay is funny and raw and real. She is the author of The Fearless Experiment: Living Outside The Lines, and she blogs over at The Fearless Experiment. Make sure and find her on Facebook and on Instagram as @fearlesslindsay.
I know you’ll find her words inspiring.
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“When we lose the awe of heaven, it’s because we’ve lost some of our understanding about how significant we are to heaven.” -Bob Hazlett
Our stories matter.
Your story matters.
There are things God is whispering to some of us today that we aren’t acting on. There are places we won’t go with Him spiritually or literally because we just simply havent realized our significance in the kingdom and the fact that our stories carry the authority of heaven’s victory.
I started Fight Night almost four years ago. God had been stirring a deep hunger in me to gather with others who were sick of playing the part of the “good christian woman”‘ and were really just ready to experience real, raw, authentic community.
I didn’t know what this was going to look like. I didn’t feel qualified to lead anything. I hated speaking in front of groups. I didn’t know the Bible and if I’m being painfully honest, anything involving “women’s ministry” sent me running. But when God puts a stirring deep, deep down in your guts, you either learn to live with it and convince yourself you’re not really hearing God, or you say, “Okay God, just show me the first step.”
My first step was to mow down knee-high weeds, pick up the dog poop in my backyard, and invite some women up to my house. The first night about 30 people showed up. As an incredible time of worship ended on our hill overlooking the valley, I walked to the front of the crowd and I realized that I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to say.
I ended up simply sharing the vision I had of a community of women who could just cut the crap and be real with each other. What I realized is that I wasn’t alone in my longing for more of that.
Four years later, we meet monthly in two different cities to worship, to be real with each other, and to hear the testimony of women who have experienced God’s victory in their lives. I always remind women to leave their crap at the door. I tell them that whatever they share, whether it’s in a conversation with the person next to them or in a group setting, it needs to be real.
It’s not about hearing sad stories that were all of a sudden made better the day they met Jesus. It’s about brave women saying yes to God. It’s about sharing the really hard stuff in life that has been, and in some cases is still being, redeemed by an incredibly good God.
Revelations 12:11 (MSG) says, “And the enemy was defeated by the blood of the lamb and the bold words of their witness.”
Our stories arent’s just things that have happened to us.
When we realize the power of the testimony of our lives, it becomes one of the greatest tools in freeing others from whatever is holding them captive.
Today God wants to breathe new life into the story you’re living.
He wants to open your eyes to the awe of what He’s already done, but also to see the beauty in waking up every single morning and having the opportunity to choose to live a story that shapes history.
What parts of your story have you been hiding from? What parts of your story have you felt lacked significance or value? There is no such thin as a boring story. There is no such thing as a story too ugly to tell. Each of us carries a story unique to who we are and it’s the one only we can tell.
Are you ready? Are you willing? Today I believe God is whispering to all of us, “Somebody has to go first…will it be you?”
Ask God to open your eyes to parts of your story He wants to heal so you can use it to fee and empower others.
* This is Day 26 of a 31 Day series on Keeping It Real. You can find all of the posts in this series here. I hope you follow along and join the conversation! *
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