MWI President's Address
Address by the newly installed President of Methodist Women in Ireland, Mrs Joy Graham, in Darling Street Methodist Church, Enniskillen on Saturday 5th September.
Naaman's maid (2 Kings 1-14)
I wish to begin with a personal note by thanking the Methodist Connexion and the wider Christian community for their love, prayers and generosity to us and our son Stephen when he was seriously injured in a road traffic incident.
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Newly installed All-Ireland MWI President, Mrs Joy Graham receives her Chain of Office from outgoing President, Mrs Hazel Loney. |
I am so proud and happy to say he has been able to join us in this service today. Thank you to everyone who upheld him in prayer and God chose to answer those prayers as we are seeing a miracle in progress as he daily regains strength and movement. Praise God for His healing power!
I also want to say a special word of welcome to a family friend who saw this service mentioned on the Methodist Website and has flown all the way from his home in Australia to be with us today. Thank you so much David.
She was a Servant in a foreign land
Today I would like to look at the important role women play in the Bible. In 2 Kings Chapter 5, an account of a young girl, it's the account of Naaman's maid. Here we find a nameless girl plucked from her homeland, but still was willing to follow the God of Israel.
She was a Servant under a foreign ruler
She was in the home of a wicked Armenian warlord who loved idolatry and wickedness. Imagine for a moment the fear of being in the presence of such a person, this girl was forced to leave the security of her home and all that was familiar to her, to face such an uncertain future. Yet still she followed God's ways.
How often do we have fears and uncertainties in our lives, times when we feel insignificant and unimportant, however we look heavenward and let God take control of our lives and use us for His glory.
Even when we feel insignificant and unimportant God can make big changes! When I retired from my job as a Special Education Teacher I accepted the situation of District President feeling God had a plan for me to encourage and support the work of Methodist Women in Ireland in the Lakelands District. It was the Lakeland District of MWI that encouraged and supported me for which I am truly grateful.
Sometimes God puts us in challenging situations and I never dreamed of being, All Ireland President! God however has a purpose for my life and also for the lives of men and women to know him and to go and make Him known. God knows are strengths and our weaknesses after all He was the one who made us.
She was a Servant bound by circumstance
This maid was a captive of her circumstances; she was not free to do her own thing. We too are limited by our circumstances - caring for family members or health limitations but this does not restrict God from using us, in fact God gets the glory when we work on regardless doing the things that no one else notices but God sees and will reward those who diligently seek him.
She confessed the God she loved; she had embraced His power and was sharing the Love of God even in this strange and hostile environment. She looked on Naaman this mighty warrior with eyes of sympathy and love even when he was proud and arrogant.
She was a Servant who spoke out in love
This maid was so concerned for her earthly master that she said to Naaman's wife, "If your husband Naaman would go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be cured of his leprosy." When Naaman heard this he was sent to the King of Israel with a letter to be cured. The king however thought this was a way of picking a fight and tore his clothes.
However Elisha heard about Naaman and told the king to send him to his house. Elisha sent his servant to the door and told Naaman to wash seven times in the River Jordon. Naaman went home angry and said, "What about the Abana River or the Pharpar River? Those rivers in Damascus are just as good as any river in Israel. I could have washed in them and been cured."
God showed this maid the hurting human being with leprosy even under the façade of anger, she saw the pain and suffering of this man and was willing to give and answer to his leprosy. We too with God's help can touch the needs in the hearts of others when we reach out in love with a helping hand or a kind word.
The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 12:50
"For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."
She was a Servant who cared even for her enemies
Just as this maid helped someone who you would think was her enemy she cared enough to give the answer to his need. Naaman not only needed to be healed of his leprosy but he needed to encounter God.
If you think this afternoon that you're not needed you are wrong, who will show others Jesus, who will go and share what Jesus did on Calvary to save each one from sin. Naaman had two needs a physical ailment but also a Spiritual impairment that kept him from God.
We are all needed to share God with our neighbours and friends, we are all interconnected and we need one another to grow as each person does their work. I wonder what would have happened to Naaman if this little maid had said nothing.
Naaman would have still been in his sickness, Naaman wouldn't have experienced God's power. God used this maid to bring about a change in the life of this mighty warrior. God can use you as you tell others about God and you too can see men, women and children have a change in their hearts and lives.
We in the Methodist Women in Ireland should be like Naaman's maid sharing our God who has the power to transform. God can take us from mediocrity to "Women making a difference."
As Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
So let us return to our MWI branches remembering Naaman's maid and how she:
"Embraced His power and shared His love."
For my President's Project I have chosen a local charity dear to my heart - Horizon West Children's Hospice which is being built at Killadeas, in County Fermanagh to support the one hundred and sixty seven (167) life limited and seriously ill children and their families in the West of Northern Ireland.
The only other hospice to care for these children in Ireland is in Belfast ninety (90) miles away. There is a power point presentation of the work of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice available for all those who want it.
My support of Horizon West is one of the ways in which I want to show God's power and God's love in these two years, but what about you, how will you Embrace God's power and share God's love?Joy Graham
