[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Arkansas Baptist Women podcast. This year we are focusing on what it means to be an Arkansas Baptist woman. A woman who loves the Lord, lives on mission for the gospel, is present in her calling, is trained and equipped to lead, and is sold out to Jesus. I'm excited to talk about life, ministry, and our relationship with Jesus. So grab a cup of coffee and join the conversation.
Hey, sweet friends, it's Andrea. I hope that your day is off to a great start. I am so excited. As I think back on conference, God showed up and he moved in powerful ways. I want to thank the women of Arkansas for always showing up. You pray hard, you sing loud, you laugh together, you love one another, and most importantly, you put your eyes on the prize of Jesus. And so we had an incredible day at First Baptist Church Benton. I'm excited to bring several episodes to you here on the podcast featuring the content from Arkansas baptist women. Just as a reminder, we talked about more of Jesus, less of me, and today we're going to share some just testimonies of Arkansas baptist women who have experienced more of Jesus in their lives. We're going to hear about how God met them at their greatest point of need, and how he faithfully led them through challenges, through struggles, through shame, through guilt, but also just in intimate and personal ways so that they were for sure, they knew that God was with them, was for them. So enjoy this episode of Arkansas Baptist women as we talk about more of Jesus and less of me.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Take everything.
Thank you for allowing me to share a part of my story today and for the privilege of getting to share how Jesus is more in my life. You know, for me, Jesus is always more. It's me that has moved away, and I am. I'm a work in progress, and I will be until I reach heaven. And now I pray somehow in my life that he's increasing and I am decreasing and truly that he will receive the glory.
And Jesus offers more when we trust him as our lord and savior, because he offers when we trust him, the abundant life. I started my journey when I was six years old and I accepted Christ as my savior. But you know what that journey, I realized started long before when I accepted Christ at six. Because my parents, my mom and dad, were not raised in christian homes. They didn't have the privilege of knowing who Jesus was. But when mom was on the farm as a teenager, God revealed himself to her. And then when my dad had a vision that God had given him and a reassurance when his brother was killed in a car accident, God revealed himself to him at that time. And then when they were first married, they both accepted Christ, and they followed with baptism. So when I came along at six years old, I had the privilege of being raised in a christian home. So Jesus was working more in my life way before the time that I accepted him.
I believe Jesus died for my sins and that I needed him as my lord and savior. Then I followed him with baptism, and that was back in 1962. Now, don't do all the math because I am getting older, but, you know, because of trusting Christ at such a young age, the sins I had were greater after I believed in Christ than before I believed in him. And I think because of that, I had several years of doubting my salvation. But finally, in my twenties, I knew I wanted Christ in my life. So I just nailed it down, and I. And I realized that at six years old, I did accept Christ as my savior. And I do know, and I can look back and see in my life that he never left me. He never forsook me as a child. I can remember I felt called to missions. And even though I didn't know what that might look like, I know that in my older teenage years and then early adulthood, it affected the decisions I made in going on summer mission trips and just different things, that it was in the back of my mind that I wanted to serve the Lord, and God is always more. And like I said, I am a work in progress.
In Isaiah 43 ten, it says, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord and my servant, whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he before me. No God was formed, and nor shall there be any other God after me.
I'm chosen.
You're chosen. Our purpose is to know him and understand who he is. And the more we understand him, the more we see him.
I felt Jesus become more my life when his word become active and real. I'll never forget, during my freshman year of college, I listened to a speaker, and he spoke on John 15, you know, abiding in Christ. And he said, just make like a leaf and hang there. See, all I have to do is cling to the vine, cling to Christ, and God does the work.
And that truth has been a solid rock on my journey for many, many years. The more I rest, the more I abide in Christ, the more fruit will be produced in my life, because it's not me, it's him.
And to this day, I'm continually challenged on how to really abide in Christ. And as a summer missionary, a truth that became real in my life was from Romans 811, that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that lives in me. I mean, how much more could we want to have the resurrected power of Christ in our life? He's equipped us. It's up to us to say yes, you know, I've found peace. I have hope in God's presence when facing problems in my life. His words are not just letters on a page. They become real.
His word is real. I've experienced it. I know my God is real. I married Dwight. While I was in nursing school, I went to Obu, then transferred to UAMs. And then during nursing school, I married Dwight. And after graduation, we had our first daughter, Krista. Three years later, we had our second, Anna. And we were busy with work, with raising our girls, and being active in our church. Well, when one daughter was in junior high and one was in senior high, I got some news that I thought I would never hear. I found out that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Well, when I found this out, the friends I had that had had breast cancer were all dead. So that night, after hearing that, I stayed up. I read, I wrote some words down, and I prayed, cried some. But from that, I came out with an overwhelming thankfulness for Jesus dying on the cross for me, because him dying on the cross for me gave me a peace.
And if he had not died, I couldn't have that peace, because my worst case scenario was heaven. So it was going to be all right. No matter what, I was going to be all right.
So his words are real in my life. And after the lumpectomy and radiation, with a 97% cure rate, at that time, we'll go four years later. Well, four years later, I find another lump in my breast, and it was cancer again.
I knew that time, that's just going to be a long road ahead. I had a major surgery to face, and then I had the chemotherapy and then some medications for five years after that, I knew it was going to be a long road. But again, God showed me more, and he gave it to me through his word. He reassured me especially. I remember sitting on Wednesday night at church. The pastor asked me what I was thinking about, because the next morning, I was going for that long surgery. And he said, what are you thinking about? And what overcome me was it was verses from hebrews 1315 and Deuteronomy 30 118. Jesus said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you, because when you go back in surgery, you're the one that goes back, there's not one loved one that goes with you. When you take the chemotherapy, it's in your veins, nobody else's. But Jesus said, he said, I'll always be with you. So he's shown me so much more, and I'm so grateful for what he's done for me. And Jesus is more, and he's able to do far above what we can ask or think according to that power that works in us. And now, many of you may only know me because I'm spokesperson for an auto business. Yeah, that's me. I'm family owned, customer friendly.
But Dwight and I were in our fifties when we had the opportunity to buy a car dealership. And with a lot of prayer and faith, we stepped out. And also taking a big loan, we decided to buy that car dealership. And we wanted God to be the head of our business, and we wanted to be able to give back to our community.
And God has blessed us above and beyond what we could have ever thought could have happened in our businesses. And we pray still today that we're good stewards with what he's given us. And another thing that's come along because of us being in this situation with me as a spokesperson, I've had the opportunity to share my testimony to thousands of people that I know. I would never have been able to share my testimony before. You know, if we seek him and we serve him, whatever you are, whatever you do, he does bless more than your mind can conceive.
And today, even as I share, I do pray that someone will be able to draw closer to the Lord and be inspired to follow him and trust him, obey him. Jesus has been more in my life. He's been more in his word. He's been in the highs and he's been in the lows. And Jesus has been more. When I've said yes, when he calls and when God calls you and you know it, you have to answer yes so you can see more, to see him at work, to see him transform lives, to see him answer prayers in just his perfect timing and to know he's given me the words to speak to someone that I know. It wasn't for me. I can't explain how many blessings it is just to say yes to him and let him lead. And in 1999, I had a call to help get a christian community care clinic started in Benton. Now we're in our 25th year. There's a beautiful building there that God has provided. Millions of dollars of medicines have been dispensed to patients.
Expert medical care has been given, and then the love of Christ has been shared with those patients just because we say yes to his call. Then in 2020, God called me to Christian Women's Job Corps. We call ours women equipped christian women's job Corps. And I didn't want to answer that call. But when I said yes, I got to see God at work.
And also with that call, he called a team of ladies that teach our students, love our students. And it's so good to see how God has worked through our teachers, too. So stepping out in faith, not knowing how God would fulfill his purposes through me for christian women's job corps, has caused me to see more of God. You know, I get to walk in relationships with our students. I have to trust God to guide when I have to make decisions. As the leader lets me understand more of him because I'm trusting him more. I have to proceed with caution. And he teaches me how to love with the love of Christ. Then he's teaching me that I have to listen, and then I learn to listen again.
God's still working on me, and I'm still learning to simply abide in him.
I can't unify relationships. I can't fix people's problems. But I can listen and I can love, and I can trust and hopefully obey. I can continue to pray and just try to do the next right thing.
I can find more in his word. I can seek his mercy and forgiveness.
I can trust God is always more.
And will I always seek him? Probably not.
But if I turn to him and seek him, I will find him. He offers more, and he gets the glory.
[00:14:46] Speaker C: The story begins kind of exactly how you would expect a story to begin for someone who's sharing their testimony at a women's conference. I grew up in a christian home where my parents loved each other. They loved God, and they loved my sister and me. They say I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was six, but I don't really remember that. What I remember is going to Ga camp at the age of eleven and being surrounded by missionaries for a week. And at the end of that week, I realized two things. One, I didn't know if I was saved, and two, if I was, I had been doing it all wrong. And so what I remember is getting on my knees in the chapel at Camp Perrin and surrendering my life to Jesus with my mom sitting there right next to me. And over the next ten or so years, I followed Jesus pretty closely, and everything went perfectly. I attended Ouachita Baptist University.
I married my high school sweetheart. When I graduated with my musical theater degree, I got hired by sight and sound theaters in Branson, where I got to perform in Noah Joseph Miracle of Christmas. Everything was going perfectly to plan until the fall of 2012. And at that time, my husband got a new job, and he began to develop a relationship with a woman at work that I was uncomfortable with. And it all came to a head that next February of 2013, and I went to a women's conference called Pure Joy, really similar to this one. And it was around the time that oceans was new. And so they were singing that song over and over during this extended prayer time. And I just remember crying out to God and just saying, I surrender.
I surrender. I surrender. I surrender that. I surrender everything to you.
And it was in that surrender that I heard this very still, small, sweet voice say to me, lindsey, get ready. I'm about to do something big. I said, okay, God, yes, let's do it. Let's do something big. So in my mind, like, God's gonna fix our marriage. We're gonna surrender to ministry, we're going to Africa, because that's what GA campers do.
And then the next day, my husband left me for another woman.
And it was big, but it wasn't what I expected.
And, you know, about two weeks later, the two of them went on a business trip together. When he got home, he filed for divorce. Our divorce was final, end of May. They were engaged in July, pregnant in August, and married in September. And I was devastated and broken.
But most of all, I was just so, so very ashamed that I had been so perfect.
But now everything had been ruined.
But it was in that devastation that I decided that I was going to turn to the one who promised to never leave me or forsake me.
And I figured that the one who had prepared me for the next moment would not abandon me in it.
And what I found was that God was more than I could have ever imagined or realized up to that point, that he revealed himself to me in new ways. And the way that he did that was through his word. That his word literally became a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. That I knew he was close to me because God's close to the brokenhearted. That when I felt like I was a failure or that I wasn't enough, that he said, no, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.
When I was anxious, he said, don't be anxious about anything. But in everything. By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and then that peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. That when my life was spinning out of control, he said, trust.
Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding, and in all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.
And then for my shame, for that shame that I felt so burdened by that, that for a while prevented me from even going home and going to my parents church, because that's the church we both grew up in. God said, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And he led me to some words in Isaiah 54 that said this.
It said, don't be afraid. You will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace. You will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. Your maker is your husband. The Lord almighty is his name. The holy one of Israel is your redeemer. He is called the God of all the earth.
The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit, a wife who married young only to be rejected, says your goddess. Can I tell you that God called me back?
He called me back that he restored me. He redeemed me. He sustained me that he called me back by calling me and teaching me to forgive.
And then he called me back by giving me a new dream.
And that new dream, it sprung up. Do you not perceive? It was to move home to Arkansas. And he called me to law school. And then he didn't just call me to it. He provided a way for it and provided a full tuition scholarship. So I moved home to Little Rock, got involved with the amazing church at Rock Creek, which embraced me and allowed me to serve despite what I thought was a disqualifying past. And while I was there, I met a man by the name of Alex Ray. And then the Lord again was gracious. And then I learned that what I thought was a forever broken heart could indeed love again, and love in a way that I could not have understood earlier.
And then he blessed us with two little girls.
And then after our two little girls were born in the fall of 2020, Covid hit. And the Lord called me to a new dream, a new thing that he had prepared for me, and that was that he was calling me to ministry.
And if you had told that 26 year old divorced little girl, I say little girl, young woman, that God would call her to ministry, she would have said, there's no way I'm disqualified. I'm used goods. I'm ruined. No one could ever use me again.
But what I've learned is that God takes the brokenness.
He takes the parts that are of our life, that are the parts that we feel should be the most hidden. And he uses those and he redeems those, and he restores those for his purposes and for his glory, that we overcome by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony.
You know, when God told me that he was going to do something big over a decade ago, for a long time, I just assumed that that meant that that was just a warning for the next day, that that was his warning. And I was so grateful for that warning.
But what I've realized is that God's plans and what he has done, something big that he installed was immeasurably, immeasurably more than I could have ever asked for or imagined.
[00:22:02] Speaker D: So my name is Taja Mutasid, and here's my story. So I grew up in the church, born and raised pretty much all of my life. If there was not a service, we were still at church.
Growing up. I remember one of the things that my dad wanted from us is to make sure that when we gave our lives to Christ, that we knew why we were giving our lives to Christ. And so I remember one time I went to him, and I was like, dad, I want to get baptized. And he was just like, okay, tell me why. And whatever I said, it apparently was not the right answer. So he was like, you're not ready. So then some time had passed by, and I remember being in church at a revival, it was a three day youth revival, and listening to the speakers, and I remember one particular night, it's just like I felt the presence of Jesus on inside of my heart. Like, I just felt him inside me, and I felt like my heart had just turned to him in some kind of way. And I just began to just ponder and remember the message and the word, and just over months, just begin to just listen to what the preachers were actually preaching in church about who God was and who Jesus was. And I went to my dad one day, and I was like, I'm ready to get baptized. And he was like, why? And I remember I could tell him, like, articulate to him, you know, I really believe in Jesus. I really believe that he loves me, that he cares about me, and that he is for me. And I want to, like, be with him, like, I want to live for him. And he looked at me, and he was just like, I think you're ready. And I remember we went to talk to our pastor one night after church on a Thursday night. Everybody was outside, it was over and talked to him. He was like, she's ready. Do you want to get baptized now? And I was like, yes. And that night it was like nine or 1010 o'clock at night and I got baptized, right?
And so that's where my journey began when I was about twelve or 13 years old. Then we fast forward and we track to life. Like, I'm now graduated from high school. I am a young adult. I'm out here living life, you know, just doing my own thing. And you know how when you do something that is, like, bad, like as a kid and you try to, like, avoid your parents, try to, like, hide it or cover it up and because you don't know how they're gonna react, what the response is gonna be. I remember going through a season of my life where I was just out just doing my own thing, and I did some things that were not like, you know, pleasing to the way that I grew up, right. It was contradicted to the way that I grew up. And I remember, like, as like one of those adults where I'm like, okay, I'm going to avoid God. I'm going to just avoid him, not talk to him, whatever. Not tell him all the things, whatever, because I don't know how he's going to take this. And so I remember some years had passed by. I had moved to Arkansas and I started going to a church. And before I started, I remember praying and asking God, like, I want to get back to you. I want to get back to the word. I don't know how to do that. But will you show me and will you also give me some friends that I can do this journey with? And he answered my prayers. And I began to get involved in young adult ministry. I began to read the word. I began to really be in relationship with him. So there was a point when I gave my life to him, but then I didn't have a relationship with him. And so as I began to pursue him and as I began to have a relationship with him, like, really seek after him and really get to know him, it's not until you're in a relationship with someone that you get to know who they are and what they bring to the table and how they can, like, benefit and how you two can work together. And I remember one day sitting in church and it was just, and I remember this day so vividly. I had on a blue dress. My hair was out, and I was feeling good. Looking good on the outside, but on the inside, I just felt so broken. I just felt so down, and I just felt like a whole hot mess, right? And I remember he was preaching. The pastor was preaching about forgiveness, and, oh, my word, I did not know that that is the message that I needed to hear from me because I did not know that God could forgive, you know, sin. I did not know that he can still, like, forgive me and still love me on top of that. And what I also didn't know is that I needed to forgive myself. And so I remember growing up, and I remember praying, and I remember just boo hoo crying because I just really felt the presence of God. And it got so bad. Cause it was a process. So even though I heard that message, it was still a process, right, to really get to that place where I'm fully accepting him for God, for who he is. And I remember I caught my grandmother crying one day, and I was just like, boohoo. Crying on the side of the road. And I was just like, grandma, I don't know what's going on. And I just cried. And then my dad came to visit me, and when he came to visit me, and I just kind of, like, told him all the things that I had ever done, right? And he looked at me so calm, and this was like, literally a year before he passed away away. It was so calm. And he said, just as God forgives us when we sin and when we mess up, he was like, I forgive you and I love you. And it was like this weight just lifted off of me. Because one thing, one, I didn't know that I needed to hear that from my father, my physical, my earthly father, that he forgives me and that he still loves me even though I messed up so bad. But then to point that back to Jesus and say, God forgives you and he loves you, and he does. Like, God is so obsessed with us. He's so obsessed with me that he pursues me every single day. And only thing he wanted was for me to be in relationship with him and for him to know that I love you. The thing that I did not know that I needed was more of Jesus, more of him. And when I was able to get that, then all of these other things came to me. More love, more peace, more joy. I did not know that at that moment that he had already chosen me. The Bible says that we were chosen, that we're. That we're redeemed, that he adopted us I did not realize all of those things or what that meant. And so I'm just grateful to know that I can stand here knowing that I have him in my life. And because I have him, I have all of these other things that are just bonuses that are just added to me, and I'm just blessed by that. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
[00:28:15] Speaker A: Thanks for listening. I hope today's episode helps you embrace the full, free, abundant life that Jesus provides. Don't forget to follow like and subscribe to the Arkansas Baptist Women podcast. If you would like more encouragement to help you grow in your faith, visit our
[email protected], abw. Come back next time as we continue to talk about how we can worship, grow, connect, serve and share together. I can't wait to talk to you soon.
