Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Written by Sabrina Nino de Campos, Portuguese Team Leader for Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Gainsville, Texas

I remember that while I was continuing through my annual Bible reading, during one of the hardest times in my life, I ended up reading the Psalms. And I remember that on one of those nights, when I felt so weak and ready to give up, I read a verse that said:

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:8, NIV)

The Psalms are so powerful and full of authentic human feelings. Not all of them are happy, sometimes they are feelings of pain, sometimes anger, sometimes indignation against God Himself and even sorrow stemming from feeling that Yahweh has forgotten about them.

Are negative feelings a bad thing? Do those feelings prevent us from feeling joyful? Feeling joyful does not depend on whether the situations in life are perfect.

The word Shalom comes from the Hebrew for wellbeing. The Hebrew people asked, “How is your Shalom?” And that involved a lot of aspects of life. How are your sheep? How is your crop? How is your family? The idea of Shalom meant harmony, wholeness, peace, flourishing. When all areas of life were perfectly in spring.

A lot of times in life, we don’t feel like everything is in perfect harmony. We go through pain that makes us want to give up and takes our strength away—just like a lot of Psalmists, and even Jesus Himself, felt at times. But what redefines our joy and restores our Shalom is Yahweh.

We won’t be happy all the time, but we will always be joyful in Him. Like the Psalmists and Jesus, we don’t have to hide our pain or sadness, but we can put everything we feel in His hands and rest under His wings. Our Shalom, our peace, comes from Him, who makes us complete. Not because everything is perfect and peaceful, but because He is perfect, and He is our peace. He becomes our Shalom, the only way to be complete and joyful.

If we redefine our prayer and redefine our priorities, our joy will also be redefined!

If we make it our prayer that by day the Lord directs His love to us and by night His song is with us, we can receive Shalom and Joy that exceed our understanding.

What attitudes or actions in your life need to be redefined so that your Joy can depend on the Lord and not on you?

Written by Fabiola de Gómez, Iron Rose Sister Volunteer in Colombia.

My dog, Joy, is always with me. She came into our home six years ago and as her name says, she has brought us a lot of joy! She always wants to be by my side. So much so, that I bump into her several times a day and even more if I feel sad, sick, or down.

Joy reminds me of the joy that is always in us – the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. But this inner joy is sometimes disturbed or silenced by the voice of my worries, anxieties, sadness, or anger. It is in those moments that I ask myself, where is my joy? It is easier for me to feel I have joy when things are “calm and under control”. But what happens when they are not? Those moments are the ones that most test where my confidence truly lies.

In this last year, due to the global pandemic, I could say that for many of us things were out of our control. Perhaps this caused our moods to be affected and at certain moments, our joy to be silenced by the pressures and difficulties of external circumstances.

This causes me to look at Jesus and wonder, how did he do it? Even in the midst of the most difficult moments of His life, His joy was still intact. Despite the anguish, sadness, and pain He experienced, He did not refuse to bear the burden of the cross. We see Him tell Peter in Matthew 16:23 (NIV) “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Jesus maintained His joy because His gaze was fixed on the reward. As Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) says, “…for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.” Jesus shows me where my gaze should be so that joy will be a constant in my life. Doing this is what allows us as Christians to live out the Scripture that says: “rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16, NIV) and “consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3,NIV)

By looking at the example of Jesus, we can understand that when we value trials for what they add to our faith and not for what they take from us, we can fully experience the utmost joy in their midst. So now I can say: Joy is always with me.

Sisters, let us walk with our eyes fixed on Jesus so that our hearts are not discouraged. When moments of difficulty come and you feel your joy is silenced or disturbed, ask yourself, where is my gaze fixed?

Written by Michelle J. Goff, Founder and Director of Iron Rose Sister Ministries, in Searcy, AR

Joy. That would not typically be the word one would use to describe the process of iron sharpening iron. Uncomfortable. Vulnerable. Challenging. Revealing. Humbling. Painful. Those are words that more aptly describe a reaction to discipline, or to one’s faults being pointed out.

When we are children, we are on the receiving end of discipline and correction. My friend’s one-year-old son was screaming mad at her for not letting him play with the trash. The young student may be convinced that she knows how to count, but when she, like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, skips sixteen, she needs to know of her error. Later, the nursing student may not like her mistakes being highlighted by the supervisor, but the training she receives while in a simulation lab is invaluable when it comes time to treat a patient.

How can we learn if we are never corrected?

Spiritually speaking, God uses the Bible is one of our best tools for correction and instruction.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

One of the other ways that God teaches us is through the iron sharpening iron, one another relationships in His name.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. (Prov. 27:17)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16)

When my brothers and sisters in Christ point something out to me that I need to learn, a mistake that I have made, or something I may not be seeing clearly, my initial response is to cringe at being pricked and convicted by my error. However, when I recognize that this is done out of love… when they come to me privately and have prayed over what they are going to say… when we work together to see how God can help me apply this new knowledge… I truly am grateful and filled with joy.

This is a joy that the world would not define in the same way. And it is not a joy that many would seek out—a joy from being corrected by iron sharpening iron.

Through Iron Rose Sister Ministries, one of the things that we make a priority through the equipping and encouraging process is to have Iron Rose Sisters that will be the best cheerleaders for you to be the beautiful rose that God has created you to be. An important part of that Iron Rose Sister relationship is the courage, love, and grace shown through the process of iron sharpening iron level accountability and correction.

My challenge for you today is to pray 1) that God will provide an Iron Rose Sister in your life to bring you joy through the process of correction and growth, and 2) that God will fill you with wisdom when you are given the opportunity to serve as iron sharpening iron for an Iron Rose Sister.

When iron sharpens iron, there may be sparks of strong words. It may cause the temporary pain of conviction. Yet may we remember the eternal joy and gratefulness we have to be molded and shaped more into the image of Christ.

We are redefining joy through the process of iron sharpening iron. Pray that God will lead you to the right person with whom you can share in the Common Threads this week. Choose someone with whom you can be honest and genuine in your desire to grow and bloom. We all have thorns that are hindering our growth. And we are all given the opportunity to dig deeper and have someone hold us accountable.

If you are willing, we would love to hear from you about how this went for you and an Iron Rose Sister. We can rejoice together in all God is doing through each of our lives.

Written by Abigail G. Baumgartner, intern for Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Middle school is not often remembered fondly. We see old pictures, then laugh and cringe as we remember the awkwardness of every phase. I certainly have memories like that, but I treasure them as memories of how I've grown. One such memory comes from my eighth-grade year. I had already given my life to Christ at that point, but I was facing some hard things, and I was lonely. Until, one day, I awoke with indescribable joy! This joy came from a feeling that God was walking through life with me. God felt closer than ever before, and this joy was the deepest emotion I had ever experienced. At age 14, I was sure I had reached the pinnacle of Christian maturity; I would feel this joy for the rest of my life.

But, over time, the feeling of God's daily presence faded, and my joy faded, too. I was still pursuing God, but suddenly I did not feel that same rush of joy. I thought I had angered God somehow and that He withdrew from me because He no longer loved me. I felt frustrated, fearful, and discouraged.

What had I done that God would leave me?

I battled that question for years. Thankfully, the adults in my life encouraged me to continue pursuing God by reading His Word, praying, and seeking Him with all my heart. Eventually, God showed me that He never left me alone; He was just calling me to a greater joy, and I had to let go of my old ways to make room for the new.

The joy I discovered in eighth grade was rooted in feeling God's presence emotionally. If I felt Him with me, I was joyful, but if I did not feel Him there, I was not. That joy was based on my feelings. But my feelings often change based on what I have for dinner. I am inconsistent.

God, on the other hand, "… is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8, NIV). I know He never left me because, in Matthew 28:20, He says He is "...with [me] always" (NIV). In fact, as a Christian, nothing can separate me from His love (Rom. 8:38-39, NIV).

Through His Word, God redefined joy for me. I now understand that True Joy is rooted in God and His promises, not in a feeling. Joy in the Lord is my response to who He is and all He has done for me.

Feelings of joy are beautiful blessings from God, but I can still be Joyful with or without those emotions. In my Christian walk today, my Joy is securely rooted in who God is rather than how I feel (Phil. 4, NIV).

Just like remembering middle school, when I reflect on my spiritual journey, I am amazed by how much I've grown. When I reach points in the journey where I am content to stop and enjoy the view, God still calls me to something more and draws me closer to Himself. I cannot think of a better reason to rejoice!

How has God redefined Joy for you? How have you grown as a result of pursuing Him?

Written by Kat Bittner, member of Iron Rose Sister Ministries Board of Directors in Colorado Springs, CO

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine…” (1 Pet. 1:6-7, NLT)

Many years ago, I suffered the loss of a sweet friend. It was sudden and unexpected. For the first time in my adult life, I dealt with a grief never before experienced. And I was profoundly changed. Marked by anger, bitterness, and indifference, this overwhelming grief obscured my blessings. I had no desire to work. I had no desire to fellowship. I couldn’t even occupy myself with things I loved to do, like cooking. I had done a lot of that with Hope. All the bustling delightful things in me were gone and I had no more joy. Or so I thought.

“…For I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.” (Jer 31:13, NKJV)

Months later I attended a ladies’ Bible class which focused on how to restore our spirit following a time of rejection. The word “rejection” caught my attention. This is what I felt following Hope’s death. I felt rejected by God. He had given me this tender friendship which I had been longing for since moving to Colorado. He had given me someone with whom I could be genuine and transparent. And after 18 months, it had ended. God answered my prayer. And then my soul was crushed.

Yet, further study into God’s Word helped me understand that if I reconsidered my grief, I could redefine my joy. One thing paramount was to stop asking God, “Why?” and begin asking, “What do I do with this?” In trials, our energy needs to shift from being angry and indifferent to understanding how God works in us for His will and pleasure (Phil 1:13, NKJV). If that’s true, He couldn’t possibly be pleased with our wallowing and sour attitude.

With this recognition of God’s desire, I came to see the blessing in knowing Hope rather than fixating on my loss. I found blessing in seeing Hope in her daughter’s face. I found pleasure in attending her son’s wrestling meets and cheering him on as she did. I even began immersing myself in new recipes just because I thought Hope might like them. Slowly over time, my grief was tapered. My anger was assuaged. My bitterness was soothed. And my mourning turned into joy. I found joy in the memories of our wonderful albeit short time together. I rejoiced to have had a friend with shared passions. I found joy in watching her children grow. I even found joy in her husband’s capacity to love again and marry years later.

Joy had been redefined. It had gone from being something I thought was adrift to something that was immutable. I simply needed to see it amidst my pain. Joy needs to be unveiled. What a blessing to truly live out the words of James and “count it all joy” (James 1:2, NKJV) when in even the worst of circumstances. It makes all the difference to know that joy eclipses our affliction. And it can transform our faith.

How will you unveil joy and be redefined by it?