The Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast

Meredith Brock: Hi friends. Welcome back to the podcast where we share biblical truths for any girl at any age, whether you're a girl in your 20s just getting started or a mom about to face an empty nest. Our goal is to leave you with practical biblical application that helps you in whatever situation you're facing. Today I'm joined with my cohost, Kaley Olson.

Kaley Olson: Hi Meredith. I'm so excited to be with you today because I get to introduce our topic for today. We actually have a really cool opportunity to let our listeners hear a message from one of our She Speaks conferences. Today on the podcast you're going to hear a message from Suzie Eller, a Proverbs 31 author and speaker who completely blew me away with what she shared.

Meredith Brock: Yes, one of my all-time favorite She Speaks messages and if you're a gal with a message in your heart who feels called to write, speak or lead — first, can we just say that's a scary calling and we get it. But you might have this secret dream that you haven't ever even told your friends about yet and we pray that this message today encourages you and helps you to step into this new season with confidence.

Kaley Olson: Or you know, maybe you do have a message in your best friend's husband, parents or whoever knows that you want to do more. Before we let you listen to the message, we wanted to let you know about an incredible opportunity we have for you. First, we already mentioned this message was from She Speaks, which is Proverbs 31 Ministries’ annual conference that helps writers, speakers and leaders with the tools and confidence they need to actually fulfill their dream. For the first time ever, we're offering two livestream packages.

Meredith Brock: What?

Kaley Olson: I know. So you can join the conference from wherever you are.

Meredith Brock: We'll tell you more about those after the show, but if you're just dying to know more right now and if you're in a safe place and can Google this, go to shespeaksconference.com and click “Livestream” for more details. P.S., if you ever forget what we mentioned, maybe you're driving or something like I said you can find our show notes on proverbs31.org with the links to everything we talk about. So don't worry, you're not going to miss a thing.

Kaley Olson: I know. So convenient.

Meredith Brock: Well, okay, so we don't want to make you guys wait any longer. So here's Suzie's message.

Suzie Eller: I was sitting on the back row of my church. It's large church of about 800 to 900 people. I was 28 years old and I sat on the back row of that church for two reasons. One is I had three little kids and so it's really convenient. But the second reason that I sat on that back row is it felt really safe. That day as I listened to my friend and my pastor speak about the anointing on our lives as believers, I was just listening and taking it in because I was so hungry for the Word of God.

I was sitting there in my safe place when suddenly he said, "You know, guys, I have to pause for a moment. I have been disobedient to the Lord for the last 30 minutes." I thought, man, you're so close to finishing the lesson. Just go ahead. I really didn't. I'm sitting there, but I wanted to in just a moment when he said this, "I've been disobedient and the Lord has dropped a name on my heart and He won't let this name go. As I've spoken about anointing, Suzie Eller, would you please come to the front of the church?" And I looked around like, "Who?"

And he said it again, "Suzie, would you please come to the front of the church?" I'm telling you, my heart was just hammering. I stood and I walked to the front of the church, and the last place that I wanted to be was at the front of anything. I stood there and my friend who I trusted, who I knew his life, leaned over and said, "I want to tell you I'm sorry in advance." He began to tell the congregation, "The Lord has asked me to anoint Suzie and for this entire congregation to pray for her."

I just thought, man, I don't know what's happening here. I don't want to be in this place. I don't want those lights in my eyes. Lord, my safe place is back here on the back row, and yet he pulled out this giant bottle of anointing oil and I thought, okay, I'm cool with this. I've seen them do this. He's going to put a little bit of anointing oil on his thumb. I'm going to have a greasy spot right here in the middle of my forehead. They'll pray for me and then I can go back to my safe place once I can.

My friend, this pastor leaned down and said, "I need you to know in advance. God really did tell me to do this," and he began to pour the anointing oil over my head. The sounds were like this, glub, glub, glub, glub, glub, glub, glub. It just kept coming. I thought this was an endless amount of oil. I don't know if you've ever felt what it's like to stand in front of 800 people with oil coming out of what seems like a vat, pouring down your head into your clothing, into my underclothing, down my legs, into my shoes, and I'm just standing there and it's still just coming. Glub glub glub. Finally I heard glub glub, and it was over. And he began to ask the congregation to pray for me. I walked back to my seat afterwards, and it sounded like this ...

I sat down next to my husband, my 28-year-old self, and I said, "What just happened?" Over the years I have looked back at this moment, and sometimes I can't help but like we're doing now, laugh at how ridiculous it felt. But I'm also aware of what a holy moment it was. I believe the reason the Lord led this pastor, my friend, to anoint me in this way on that day, so I wouldn't have any doubt as to what God was trying and had been trying to tell me. He did mean me. He did mean me. The Lord had placed on my heart a desire to teach the Word and to tell others about Jesus. But because of my past, because of the insecurities I was working through at that time, I was so keenly aware of what I didn't have to offer.

I was so keenly aware of not just what I didn't have to offer as a Bible teacher, but in so many other areas. You see, I wasn't raised in a Christian home. I loved the Bible. It had rescued me through a love of Jesus. I hungered for the Word and I was going deeper, but there was still so much to learn. While others were raised by a godly mom and dad, I was raised by a mentally ill mom, and a dad who was kind of absent. My childhood had been chaotic and abusive, and so I didn't have the same example as some others did. So I was still learning how to be a good mom. While some seem to be really comfortable in their skin, at that time I was a work in progress. I didn't have the same confidence. I was trying to figure out who I was.

It was coming, it was coming, but it wasn't there yet. And it's not that I walked around with my insecurities tangled around my neck. Instead they were tangled round my heart where no one could see, except for God who loves me like crazy. That day, that day He saw what I could be. He saw my insecurities, He saw my doubts, He saw my past, He saw what was around my heart, but He also knew who I could be and what I could do because of His anointing on my life. He was inviting me to see that as well. Turn to Acts Chapter 3. My grandson got ahold of my glasses before I came here, and so they have grown about a size and a half. So as you see them sliding down on my nose, let's just blame Luke. In Acts Chapter 3 we'll start in verse 1.

Now, Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at 3:00 P.M. in the afternoon. A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money. Peter, along with John, look straight at him expecting to get something from him. Then Peter said, "I don't have silver or gold, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk."

As I read this story, I can't help but ask this question. Why is it that we focus on what we don't have instead of what we've been given? The temptation to focus on what we don't have is going to crop up time after time after time, as we follow the call of Jesus on our life. We look at someone and we think, I don't have what she has. I'm not as talented, I'm not as bold, I'm not as smart, I'm not as outgoing. I can't write like she does, I'm not a social media guru. We look at the road to publishing or speaking or leading and we think, I don't have what it takes. This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. We see the obstacles and there are many. And we question whether we really heard from God or not. We see the need in front of us. We see our culture, we see the tides turning and we think to ourselves, I'm only one person, what can I do?

Over the next few days I'm going to promise you something, and this is what I've already seen. There are going to be moments when you feel tempted to list all the things you don't have. It may make you want to quit or run to your room or be discouraged, but this is what you do have. 1 John 2:20 reminds us that you and I have an anointing from the holy one. 1 John 2:27 says, "But the anointing that you received from him abides in you." It's ingrained in you. It lives in you. It is not separate from you. It is part of your spiritual DNA. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus shared this, "The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor." Proclaim … to shout, to write, to speak, to communicate these beautiful truths.

He has sent me to proclaim, shout, communicate, write, speak. Freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind. To set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and then one more verse. In John 14:12, as Jesus was preparing to launch the early church and they were saying, "Jesus, I'm troubled. I'm troubled because you're going to go away. That's what you're telling me." Jesus was telling them there was sorrow ahead, there was persecution ahead. The cross was ahead, but He made a running promise to them. A promise that is still for you and I today. "Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I'm going to the Father."

That word “greater” doesn't mean more sensational. What it means is greater reach. "I'm launching you, church, because I'm going to the father, but everything I have taught you, every example that I have given you, you are going to use those. And you're going to disciple a generation who's going to disciple a generation who's going to disciple a generation. And the reach will be even greater than you can imagine." Now maybe you don't need a giant bottle of anointing oil pouring over your head to soak in these truths. But we do need to take our eyes off of what we don't have, in order to freely give what we do have. We can't do both. We just can't. The anointing on your life is dunamis power that fills you from the inside out. That word means power that is greater than our own. It's an anointing that immerses us, that covers us, that plunges us into the depths of who God is and His promises.

It is in us, it fills us. It refuels us, it flows out of us. It splashes on our children, and our grandchildren, and our neighbors, and those we come in contact with. Once the miracle at the city gates took place, Peter and John were arrested and the authorities demanded to know by what name was this man healed. In Acts 4:8, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, power from the inside out, told them it was by the name of Jesus Christ that this man was healed.

In Acts 4:13, this might be one of my favorite Scriptures in the entire Bible. When the authorities saw the courage of Peter and John, and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus. They didn't look at what they didn't have to offer, and yet they saw that they had stepped into what they had been given. What if Peter and John had focused on what they didn't have? Really, ask yourself that. What if the focus, they walk up, they see the man carried there. He's by the gate Beautiful. He expects and hopes at the bare minimum for a coin or two. What if Peter and John had pulled out what was ever in their pockets and said, "Oh man, we don't have silver or gold. Sorry, bud. You're just slap out of luck today." There would've been no miracle.

Our need for God's anointing will never subside. I've been doing this now for 20 years. Ministry for 20 years, and I love it, and it's hard and it's wonderful. And all those things that you're feeling today, I have felt them in spades, in different ways. For years I was keenly aware of what I didn't have. But the more I walked with Christ, the more comfortable I began to be in my own skin. People did not intimidate me anymore. There were times I was way out of my comfort zone, which is, I think, where God has me living, outside my comfort zone.

How many of you are outside your comfort zone right now? All day today, right? But I've learned to trust God that He was growing me. I also began to trust me, and I think there's something really good when we start to step into God's view of who we are. But as time passed, I realized that there is a trap the enemy would love to lure us all into who run after the call of Christ. And that is to leave the anointing behind, to refuse to acknowledge our need for it. The truth is, is we can offer up our talents. The truth is that we can offer up our fabulous writing skills, our speaking ability, our marketing abilities, and these are all good things because they're used to expand the reach of the gospel. But if we push on in our own power and leave the presence of God behind, they're just tips and tools and trades.

We can strive, we can finagle, we can make things happen even if it's not God's timing. We can focus solely on what we bring to the table, instead of stepping into what we've been given, which is the anointing. When we do that, it's just us. It is just us, and we aren't what the world needs. They need Jesus. They need to hear from people who walk with Him daily, who soak in the power and the presence of God even when it's inconvenient. Who understand their need for them. I'm holding a mic in my hands, but I'm still the same girl that Jesus rescued. And if He took this away tomorrow, I'm still the girl that Jesus rescued. My message would not change.

I would stand on a street corner and tell them Jesus rescued me. He made me whole. He didn't just make me whole, He showed me who I was. He filled the gaps. He set me free. Luke 4:18-19 came alive in my heart and my life, and it poured it into the next generation of my children who never knew what I knew. But they had their own things to work through to find their own Luke 4:18-19 moment. They need to hear from those who recognize when they're empty, and they stop so that they can refill and refuel. I just took a month long sabbatical from social media, and can I tell you what the enemy whispered in my ear when I knew that I knew that I knew that God was telling me to put it down for a month? "What about those who follow you, Suzie, they depend, they love that prayer that comes every night. What about your blog, Suzie? What about ..."

And I said this three years ago when I spoke as She Speaks: If God is the one asking us to do something and we hesitate, then it's not about God anymore; it's become about us. In that month I realized that I was in need to refuel, to go back to that place, not where somebody was going to pour a bottle of anointing over my head, but from the inside out. The anointing that lives inside of me to fire that back up, not in my own efforts, but by tying into the source of where that comes from and putting everything else to the side for a moment.

Years ago, I began to practice praying every six months about everything that was on my ministry plate. I would take everything that I was doing for the Lord, and I would put it before the Lord. I would show Him as if He couldn't see everything that I was doing, and I would ask Him, "Lord, show me what's supposed to be on this plate." I would ask Him to show me those things that maybe this season had ended, and I was still holding on even though it was time to let go. When we birth something, sometimes it's hard to send them to kindergarten or college. Sometimes when we birth things in ministry, even though God's the one saying it's time to send them off, we hold on to them. So I pray and ask the Lord to show me that. I asked Him to show me if there's anything I've put on there just because there's a need, and it's not my assignment, but hey, there was a need so I piled it on.

I asked Him to show me if there's anything that needs more of me or if there's something that needs less of me, and this is a good practice and it's something I do and treasure in my life. But something changed this last time for the first time during for years and years. I was reading in Acts Chapter 17 verses 24-25, and in this Paul is in Athens, and he's actually running from persecution. Not running, but going away from persecution on the advice of those who loved him, but he did what Paul does. He immediately began to preach and to teach, but he went into Athens and he saw all of these man-made idols everywhere. They were beautiful. All different materials, all different sizes. There was a plethora of man-made idols, and these thinkers and these philosophers were really, truly trying to find their way to God.

And in Acts 17:24-25 Paul says, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. And he does not live in temples built by human hands, and he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything. Rather he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else." Have you ever been there where you're reading the Word and you've read it a hundred times, and suddenly it leaps off the page in a fresh new way. I'm asking God, I'm holding up all of these things that I'm doing for Him, before Him. I'm saying, "Lord, what do You need me to do?" The Lord speaks to my heart. "I don't need you to do anything, Suzie. You get to. I invite you to. It's an adventure with Me. But you're asking the wrong question." So He's going to be faithful to show me what should be on my plate and what shouldn't be. But there was a question that I was missing.

The question that I began to ask is, "Lord, whatever is left on this plate, You don't need me to do it. Thank You that I get to, but I need You in order to do this, which You breathe life into whatever is left. You don't need me to do it, but I can't do it without You. Would You breathe life into my Wednesday night Bible study where we make dinner and sit around the table with friends? Would You breathe life into my work for COMPEL at Proverbs? Would You breathe life into this book project that's on my heart? Would You breathe life into…? That person I sat with at dinner who was feeling just a little uncertain? Would You breathe life into that conversation because it's no accident?"

It completely changes the way I look at how I do ministry. Paul is teaching them that God does not live in man-made idols, and if I begin to bring the focus to what I bring to the table instead of stepping into the anointing that I've been given; there's a really good chance that what I'm doing will be shiny and pretty and have the Lord's name on it. But it could be a man-made idol. Instead, He brings life and breath to those who realize their need for Him and His anointing on their life, and this is where God shows up.

Now, as I think back to that moment 30 years ago, and I'll never forget the sound, I just never will. It truly was glub, glub, glub. But as I stood there, and that poured over a young woman's head, a young woman uncertain of how God could use a willing heart, I want to tell you something, 30 years later, I need it just as much, maybe more.

I want you to remember something, sweet friends, over these next day and a half. It's not about what we don't have to give. And if the enemy has already attached you in that error, rebuke him in the name of Jesus and send him packing. Because he doesn't get to come along with you on God's dream for you. He just doesn't. It's not about what we bring to the table. I'm sitting in a room with some of the most talented, gifted, amazing women I could ever know, and I'm so grateful for that. I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. The world needs Jesus, but just remember, it's not about what we bring to the table. It's His anointing that produces the miracle that God had in mind all along. As this remains our focus, the world may not see how much we bring or don't bring to the table. But they will see that we have been with Jesus and as a result, people are drawn to Him and changed miraculously, and so are we. Let me pray for you.

Father, I pray for my sister, you know her well. I pray, Lord Jesus, that this call that you have stirred in her heart, that the enemy will have no access. Lord, as we look, Father, not at what we don't have, but we begin to step into what we've been given, knowing that you will meet us there. Father, there is so much that we're learning, and it may feel intimidating or overwhelming. But God, there is one thing, one cup, that is ours to take from this conference, and that's all that you ask. Take that one cup and do that and I got the rest. I've got the rest.

Kaley Olson: Wow. Mer, I mean you're right. That was one of my favorite She Speaks teachings ever. Because can we just all talk about how we want to just curl up on a couch next to Suzie, and have coffee with her while she shares more about what her life is like?

Meredith Brock: Suzie, If you're listening, call me girlfriend, call me, call me.

Kaley Olson: Beep me if you want to reach me. Okay. All right. But on a more serious note, I loved her line that says, "If God is asking us to do something and we question it, then it's not about God anymore. It's about us."

Meredith Brock: Zing that hurts.

Kaley Olson: That hurts. Jinx. Okay. No, but for real, because I feel like that's when we make ministry about us, and we've learned about this in the podcast before, about how like our calling is scary. And we said that at the very beginning of this podcast. It's so scary for God to tell you to do something. You don't want to take the next step. But it doesn't have to be a big step. It's like so many times I'm so guilty of the Lord telling me to do something or prompting me and I'll be like, that just feels uncomfortable or that's weird. I don't want to do that, can I do?

Meredith Brock: Or what if this happens, and what if that happens?

Kaley Olson: Yeah, what if. I'm the queen of what if.

Meredith Brock: Oh my goodness gracious, you are.

Kaley Olson: You know that, I'm a One. It's fine. But I just, I love that she challenged us in that way to just see how she stepped out. I think she said she was 28 whenever she did that. And just being faithful then, to step out and follow through with what the Lord was leading her to do. Ended up letting her minister, you know, through all those years and eventually speak that same truth back into women who probably desperately needed to hear it.

Meredith Brock: What a beautiful thing. I hope right now there's some 20-year-old listening to this. Here I am, I'm 37 about to be 38 and I think, I hope right now that we're breathing some life and encouragement into a 20-year-old sitting somewhere saying, "Can I do this? Can I really do this?" And hearing God say, "It's not you doing it, it's Me. Through you." Like listen to that and let it sink into your hearts today. One of my favorite lines, and man, was this convicting for me, was we can't push on in our own abilities or power without wearing out.

We must step into what we've been given and trust God to work through us. That's hard for me. I'm kind of a “go get it, make it happen” kind of gal. I've had to learn in my, you know, 38 years of living, that when I live from that place of believing, it's only gonna happen if I make it happen. That this is about my abilities and my skills. Man, do I get to that place of being completely worn out, exhausted and disconnected from the people, and the things that really matter to me. So I just hope this brings some encouragement to someone today. I know it did for me. I know it's continuing to challenge me to really just trust the Lord with what He's doing, and what His plan is. Not necessarily what I think it should be or what it should look like. So good stuff, really good stuff.

Kaley Olson: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like what we need to let our listeners know is that this is what happens at She Speaks. Of course we equip writers and speakers and leaders, to be able to do what they've been called to do with practical tips and training and all the questions that you have about what it's like to get started. But our main sessions are just where you can sit and just receive a word from the Lord, from people like Suzie or Lysa TerKeurst, or any of our other amazing keynote speakers who come and are just so vulnerable. We've talked about that a lot with people and just say, "Hey guys, this is not about you. It's about the Lord and here's what He wants to do through you." So I love that they share that stuff at She Speaks.

Meredith Brock: So good. It truly is one of my favorite times of the year and we would love to have our podcast listeners join us online this year. So we offer a keynote only package with five keynote sessions, just like the one you listened to. So that you can get the encouragement you need. It's also the perfect thing for a women's ministry, just saying. So maybe you want to get all your gals together on Wednesday night at your church. You all can watch the keynotes and discuss it afterwards. I think it will be very, very encouraging. The other package is all five keynotes, plus eight pre-selected breakouts that give you the encouragement you need. And the practical information for speakers, writers and leaders from industry professionals of all types.

Lysa TerKeurst is keynoting two times, not once, but two times, and she's leading two breakouts in this package. So you all, it is jam-packed. If you are encouraged and inspired by what she's doing in ministry, you will absolutely want to join us. So go check it out on the website. Don't miss out.

Kaley Olson: Yes, like Meredith said, check it out. All that can be found at shespeaksconference.com under the livestream tab. Thank you so much for joining us today. We pray this message equips you in a practical way and helped you know the truth of God's Word, because when you know the Truth and live the Truth, it changes everything.