by Patti Thornton – Executive Director of General Baptist Women’s Ministries

In preparation for a women’s conference in Southern California, I was deep in the study of the 16th chapter of Psalms. I don’t have a clear explanation of what led me to this brief song of David’s. I just know that the fifth and sixth verses in that passage jumped off the page of my study Bible and hit me like a stone flung from David’s childhood slingshot.

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely, I have a delightful inheritance.

I write this article in the second week of January – just after our final 2017 Women’s Ministries financial reports hit my desk. Numbers don’t lie, and I am simply responding to the black and white spreadsheet laid out before me when I say that If there ever was a time for me to feel insecure in our lot, it is now.

While we have made strides in fundraising efforts outside of Love Gift, they have not proved sufficient. If you are new to Women’s Ministries, let me explain Love Gift. This fund consists of donations made to Women’s Ministries that are not designated to any specific project or mission field supported by the organization. Out of these funds come all operational expenses, unexpected project needs, etc. In former years, there was enough to give large gifts of the same wonderful, undesignated sort to our mission departments.

For several years, Love Gift funds have fallen while ministry opportunities and office expenses have risen. During its annual budget process, the board of directors plans responsibly and realistically. Each year the amount of funds needed to be raised in addition to donations has escalated dramatically. Simultaneously, every area of expense has been cut. This includes staff, salaries, communications, etc.

Out of curiosity, I embarked on a research project. I searched through years of financial reports, wondering when annual Love Gift receipts had last been as low as they are now. I made it back through the 80’s, and never saw a number lower than it is now. That. Is. Astounding. You can see the dilemma. More needs to be done to save the ministry with fewer resources than ever. And God’s decree to take light to a dark world has not lessened.

In this Psalm, David, although he is probably on the run, seems to say that God has blessed him with security. He recognizes that he has been placed within generous boundaries on earth as well as the boundaries of a prophetic inheritance.

So, who moved our boundaries? Are we choking ourselves off from the work God has purposed for us, or is He the one who is re-drawing, re-forming, and re-purposing? I think we must ask these questions as we move about in the territory we see as Women’s Ministries.

We have the inheritance reserved for princesses in the Kingdom of God, and it is He who draws the boundary lines of our work on earth as well as our place in His eternal kingdom. I believe He will unfold His boundary lines for us – women enthralled by Jesus, connected for strength, and COMPELLED outward.

My prayer is that He guides us clearly to recognize those lines; and that like the Israelites who could not immediately see the pleasantness of their new territories, we will know where to fight, for what to fight, and with whom to fight to accomplish His will.

After all, we are compelled to bring as many people inside the lines as possible, right?