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Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

Read An Excerpt: Chapter 1 & 2

About Our Doubts

Click here to complete my mini-survey and for a chance to win a book!You are blessings me to pieces with all your comments and surveys. I’m going to leave this up through the weekend and make some big announcements on Monday. Have a great weekend my faithful and wonderful friends!!

Welcome to those linking over from my P31 devotion. As I shared, my heart needs lots of repairs and Jesus is always there offering to do them. But sometimes it’s to doubt it’s possible. Or we doubt ourselves and our futures when our lives feel broken; our dreams shattered. For years I allowed the pain of my past to keep me from believing God had hope for my future. I let insecurities and doubts keep me from living in the assurance of God’s promises and the confidence of God’s love.

Give-away and Mini-Survey
Now I sense God calling me to help other women walk out of the shadows of their doubts and live in the confidence of who God has created and called them to be. I’m writing a book on the topic of a woman’s doubts. I know that publishers want to hear what a woman is thinking and feeling, and needing for encouragement. So, I created a mini-survey (6 questions) that will help determine the focus of each chapter.

Pretty please, would you take two minutes to complete the short survey and then come back to let me know you did. As my thanks to you, I’ll be giving away 4 autographed copies of Who Holds the Key to Your Heart? So, please take the survey and leave a comment below this post telling me you did it. I’m praying for 500+ responses!!! You can help by telling friends and sending a link. If you get others to complete it, tell me and you’ll have two chances to win. I’ll do the drawing Monday! THANK YOU so much!!!

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More encouragement for today…

When God Takes Broken and Makes it Beautiful

My dearest friend’s husband, one of my favorite pastors, had been told his position was being eliminated. She would be moving – hours away. This was the woman who had believed in me. Invested in me. Encouraged me. Prayed for me, and stood beside me as I walked through my fears and doubts to follow God’s calling to write and speak.

This was my women’s ministry leader. The one I was going to serve alongside until we both shriveled up and went to be with Jesus. This was the woman had built one of the most amazing women’s ministries in the country. And now it was broken!

My heart was broken, too. I didn’t know how to process my pain.

I thought yard work might be a good distraction for my despair. As I walked into our backyard, I noticed a rose bush the previous homeowner had planted in the center of our split rail fence. It was in full bloom, expressing her glory through the display of gorgeous pink blossoms across the center of the fence.

How did that happen? I wondered.

Although I’d never used it, I knew we had rose food in our shed so I decided to fertilize the bush to help her sustain her blossoms.

As I pulled the weeds back, clearing the way for plant food to sink into the soil, I noticed the root ball divided into four sections. Then a thought ran through my mind. Should I leave them all together, or pull them apart and place them at different posts on the fence? If I separated them and planted the sections in fertile soil at separate posts, their vines would eventually connect and create a blanket of pink draped across the whole fence.

I knelt before the blossoming beauty and pressed my hands into the dirt, trying to find the right places to separate the root ball. That’s when I felt God whisper to my heart.

Renee, do you see this plant? It’s what I see when I look at you and the women’s ministry you love. Each of you serving on the ministry team has been carefully planted in your giftedness, nurtured and encouraged through prayer, equipped through training, fertilized by opportunities to serve and you have produced fruit…fruit that will last!

But, like this plant, you have reached the fullness of My glory in your current soil. You and the rest of the team are ready to divided into separate plants so that my glory in each of you will be more fully displayed as you are uniquely and individually planted in new places of ministry.

What? Surely MaryAnn leaving wasn’t the only uprooting I was about to experience? I couldn’t bear the thought. More pruning? More breaking up of what has taken years to establish?

I had just gotten to where I was comfortable and felt courage to step and do more in ministry. I was surrounded by women who loved me. We were a team and I just couldn’t do it without them. Yet, as I imagined God’s glory like that of the rose bush being more fully displayed, my heart settled into a place that felt very right. It wasn’t my plan, but if it was for His glory, wasn’t that what I wanted? Would I trust Him to heal the brokenness and pain and bring something good from it?

That day I knelt on Holy ground in front of my rose bush and surrendered the broken dreams in my heart. Even if it meant letting go of what I loved so deeply, it would be worth it if others would see HIM more clearly. Somehow I knew that with God’s care, our vines would cross again in the Kingdom, and His beauty would be more gloriously seen in these new places where He was about to plant each of us.

That was five years ago. I honestly don’t think I’d be who I am today if God had not uprooted my plans and redefined my dreams.

It’s hard when God allows our hopes to be shattered, our hearts to be broken, our relationships to be fractured, our fears to be realized. I really doubted any good could come from such loss. I doubted that I could make it through the pain.

Like the uprooting of that rose bush some of my leaves wilted, some stems were cut back, petals fell to the ground and some branches had more thorns than blossoms for a while. It took time for me to get re-established in new soil. But God plan for His glory became evident each day that I surrendered to His power and trusted His plans more than mine.

I didn’t think I could make it but God took my doubts and created absolute dependence on Him. I pray that somehow today you see His glory more fully in me and in yourself as we depend more fully on Him, to take our broken and make something beautiful.

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If you haven’t yet, please complete my short survey and then leave a comment below so I can enter you for a chance in the give-away! My hope and prayer is to have 500 surveys for my book research. THANK YOU!!!

Comments

  1. I have completed your mini-survey. May the Lord bless you as you address a very important issue that overcomes many people today. Shirley

  4. Completed the survey and didn’t even realize I had so many doubts. Thank you for allowing God to use you to talk to me so many times thru your daily devotions!

  5. Survey is done. I had no idea just how much doubt I had until I searched myself for the answers. I look forward to reading your book in hopes of resolving issues and becoming a more confident, stronger woman of God. Thank you.
    Dawn

  6. Survey complete. Thanks so much for you devotional it is such a vlessing to me.

  7. Renee,

    The survey is “closed.” Maybe I missed it. 🙁

    Let me know if it reopens!

    Love you,
    Tammy

    Looking forward to seeing you in August!

  9. I have completed the survey! Thank you for sharing your heart–your “Encouragement for Today” posting on Crosswalk spoke to me this morning. I look forward to learning about the issues other women have with doubt.

    Blessings Abundant!
    Laurie

  10. HI Renee, Thank you for the wonderful illustration today. I can relate! God does know what He is doing, oh why do I doubt?!? I tried the survey, but it wasn’t working. I’ll check again.

  11. I have filled out your survey and thank you for sending that today..I lost my job yesterday and I am floundering as to what I do now.  I had talked to God and told him I wanted to “retire” in May 2009.  That was before the financial mess.  Apparently, he has decided that this is a good time for me to retire, but I do not know what path to take.  Ironically, I just filled out an application for a business license for selling jewelry I make.  Part of the jewelry is God focused but not all.  It seems frivial but I figure that women love to adorn themselves with things that are not expensive.  I am just in major doubt about where to head.  I need to bring in some money at least.  At any rate, your questions hit my heart as did your devotional.  Thank you!  God bless you!!

  12. What a wonderful message. I completed the survery. God Bless you as you continue to minister to other women.

  16. I really enjoyed your devotional today! Completed the survey, too. Some of my responses made me think about how God is even present in my self-doubt, waiting for me to look to Him for the Truth of who I am. Thank you for that.
    God bless your ministry!
    Jennifer

  17. Thank you so much I have completed your survey and until you actualy write something down like that you do not realize how many doubts you do have
    Bless you
    Lynn
    [email protected]

  18. I haven’t been to your site in awhile. You wrote just what I needed. Survey is done. God is amazing.

    beth

  19. Finished the survey…I love to garden. Wish I could be as strong as the rose bush when I feel I’m being divided. Thanks!

    Rhonda

  20. I completed and was a little surprise by the answers. I think this book will help my sister who is struggling severly with doubt and everything covered in the survey.although I have doubts at times I know I have the Lord, but does she not realy know Him.

    Sherry
    [email protected]

  22. Beverly – There are so many things I know in my head, but still doubt inmy heart. I often have trouble making the “transfer.” As soon as I have a little extra cash, I will be getting your book!
    Thank you!

  24. Thanks for the opportunity to participate in the survey. Bless you as you write. Katie

  29. Completed the survey. Doubting self in parenting, ministry leadership, in walk with God – it affects all areas of life. Thanks for your encouragement.
    [email protected]

  30. Survey is finished! Thank you for sharing how God took your broken dreams and is using you and others for His purposes and glory. God’s past faithfulness is a reminder to keep on trusting in the midst of today’s troubles.

  31. I completed your survey. I am appreciative for Proverbs 31 in so many ways.

  32. I took the survey. It really makes you think. Makes you realize how much doubt is there and how many things can be affected by that doubt!

    Erica Miller

  33. I finished the survey. Wow, I didn’t realize how much self-doubt I really had. I think I need the book more than I knew…May God bless you and strengthen you as you write your book. In Him…
    Kim

  35. Ooooo….the questions seemed to be strongly pointing at me…..guess it’s a book that I need to read!

    Hephzibah

  37. Just finished the survey. I absolutely love your devotionals!
    Today’s was particularly timely. God’s blessings as you write.

  38. I have completed the survey. It was probing and enlightening at the same time. Thank you for your commitment to serve the Lord. Janet

  40. I completed the survey and look forward to reading about what doubts other women have and how it affects them.

    Kristen

  41. With all of the knowledge that God has made me for a purpose, I still have difficulty with doubting what and why I’m here. I would just like to have peace.
    I will be praying for you as you are putting together the pieces of your book.
    Candice

  42. Completed the survey. Kind of scary to have so many questions answered the way I did. Praise God He is patient and loving!!
    Blessings on your book!

  43. I took the survey. Things are in a bit of upheaval around here leading to lots of unknowns and stress. Which leads to, of course, self-doubt. Your survey was just what I needed to realize we need to face some things head on. Thank you!

  44. Survey complete! Renee, just wanted to let you know that both your devotional at Crosswalk and this post have truly blessed me today. They were fresh manna for me! Thank you for allowing God to use you in this precious way!

  46. Survey complete! Looking forward to reading the book you are writing. Thank you!

  48. I have completed the survey. Thanks to you and all the P31 women who help to keep me encouraged everyday!!

    Pamela