The Word Alive

This weekend my friends and I attended our first ever Word Alive Women’s Conference with Lysa TerKeurst and what a weekend it was!  These past 2 days have been nothing short of life changing.  There is something to be said about sitting alongside women with similar stories and with the same hunger to hear the truth that only God’s word provides.

Lysa TerKeurst was full of wisdom and love.  She showed much humility when she shared some personal struggles she experienced the past three years and I felt a connection. I believe we all did!

First day of the conference we were handed a small interactive booklet where we wrote our own personal notes as Lysa made the bible come alive.  And as she quoted scripture, she also provided beautiful stories and healing words that penetrated our souls.  So, I’d like to end this post with an encouraging story she shared with all of us.  I pray it encourages all of you as well.

Let me set the stage for you.  In Mark 14: 32-36 Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane located at the base of the mount of olives among the olive trees.  In this verse, Jesus had been betrayed by Peter and in verse 34 Jesus says, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”  Back then, Jesus was experiencing the same sorrow we experience here on earth today.

So, what is it about the olive tree?

First, the olive tree must have both the brutal winds from the east and the refreshing winds from the west in order to produce its fruit.  In other words, it must have both good (refreshing winds) and bad (brutal winds).

And the same is true with us.

Next, once the fruit emerges, you can’t instantly pluck the fruit because at that point the fruit is bitter and hard. It needs time.

And the same is true with us.

Lastly, what’s most valuable about the olive tree is not the fruit, but rather it’s the oil it produces.  The interesting thing is that in order to extract the oil, the olive must first be pressed and crushed, and pressed and crushed until finally the oil is produced.

And the same is true with us.

Could it be that much like the olive tree, we too can be pressed and crushed on all sides by life’s circumstances?  And much like the olive tree, when we endure the pressure, when we endure the pressing and the crushing, something so much more beautiful and valuable will emerge.

Friends, don’t be discouraged by life’s pressing and crushing forces, for if you endure, in time, a new and beautiful “you” will emerge!