A Lifetime of Being Faithful

A Series on Women in the Bible

 (Use the link below to read the verses.)

Luke 1:5-25; 1:39-45

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

 

 

Father Greg Romanski

Greg Romanski and I grew up about a block apart from each other in Orchard Hills, a subdivision of St. Louis, Michigan. I have many fond memories of Greg as we were the best of friends for many years.

 

That is, until his junior year of high school when he moved to a Catholic school that was about thirty-five miles away. It was his first step to becoming a priest. After that, we visited each other a few times, but otherwise, it has been about fifty years. I had planned to visit him this summer, until I read that he had passed away.

 

By all accounts, Greg had served the Lord faithfully for decades. Although he had his shortcoming, and he wasn’t rich or famous; he did touch the lives of countless people, and loved God. You can’t ask for more than that.

 

The same seems to be true of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Her story unfolds like this.

 

⁶ Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. ⁷ They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.   NLT

 

On one occasion when Zachariah was serving as a priest, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and promised that he, and his wife Elizabeth, would have a child. As unbelievable as this promise was, it came true.

 

²⁴ After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”         NIV

 

Luke 1 weaves together the stories of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, and Elizabeth who gave birth to John. Both of them were pregnant when the following interaction took place.

 

⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear…

⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”       NIV

 

Like Elizabeth, we too will be blessed if we believe that the Lord will fulfill his promises to us. The promise to always love us; to always be with us; to always be faithful to His word. Therefore, let us live a lifetime of being faithful; like my friend Greg.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

Father Greg and his brother Jim

Rev. Gregory Romanski, a Catholic priest for 43 years, died on Good Friday, April 10, 2020 in Austin at the age of 71. He was born on February 10, 1949 in Alma, Michigan to Alex J. and Helen L. Romanski. Rev. Romanski attended Villanova University and Washington Theology University.
                                                                             
Rev. Romanski was ordained for the Paulist Fathers on May 14, 1977 and served in parishes in New York City and Greensboro, North Carolina before coming to Austin in 1989. He was affectionately known as Father Greg by his parishioners. 

 

 

 

LOSER!!!

   A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 17:1-22

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

Loser! What image does that word bring to your mind? 

The team that lost a game in overtime? Or the one that got beaten so badly it was embarrassing? A homeless person panhandling on a street corner? A geek; a convict; a dork; an addict; an obese person? The person in your office who can’t do anything right? Yourself?

 

I think Sarai may have felt like a loser most of her life.

 

Due to a severe famine in Canaan, Sarai and Abram traveled to Egypt. Before entering, Abram told Sarai to lie; to say that she wasn’t his wife, but his sister. He said this because she was so beautiful that he feared for his life. This happened not once, but twice.

 

I would imagine that, as a result of Abram’s request to lie, that Sarai could easily have felt like a piece of property; like she didn’t matter; like a loser.

 

Also, Sarai couldn’t conceive. This was a source of great shame; of self-loathing; of failure. As a result, Sarai suggested to Abram that he take their servant Hagar as a concubine to conceive a descendant. Which he did. But this caused even more problems because then Hagar despised Sarai; and Sarai mistreated Hagar.

 

Despite all that she had done to please her husband, Sarai most likely felt like a complete failure because she was unable to fulfill the most important role of a woman in that culture; to bear children, and provide a descendant for her husband. Her identity was defined by her failure.

 

But that isn’t how God defined her.

 

She is commended for her faith in Hebrews 11. Then in Galatians 4, she is recognized as the mother of the covenant nation in an allegorical comparison between her and Hagar. Sarai was not a loser!

 

It’s important for us to remember Sarai’s story; her faith; her legacy. Because we all go through periods where we fail; where we feel like a loser. The Good News is that even if we feel like a failure, the Lord is at work in our life; He can turn our failure into His victory; He can accomplish His will in our life.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

 

Fifteen Seconds of Fame

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 15:20-21

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

Geico is known for its weird, if not funny, TV commercials. 

The most recent involves the U.S. Olympic gold medalist winner, McKayla Maroney. Two young guys throwing a Frisbee, inadvertently throw it on top of a roof. McKayla saves the day by doing a gymnastic run to the roof to retrieve the Frisbee. Mission accomplished.

 

Olympic athletes typically work hard for four years in obscurity, putting in thousands of hours of practice and preparation, for a few seconds of competition to try to win a medal. Most never succeed. Only a few will ever get recognition for their dedication; their fifteen seconds of fame. That’s how it was for Miriam.

 

You remember her right? She was Moses and Aaron’s older sister. Apparently, most of her life was pretty uneventful. Besides her death, she is only mentioned three times in the Bible.

 

The first time she is the doting older sister who watched Moses as he floated down the Nile River in a basket until the Pharaoh’s daughter rescued him. What a good sister she was.

 

The second time was in the midst of Israel’s Exodus to the Promised Land. Miriam and Aaron complained that Moses was getting all the attention and making all the decisions. Talk about bad timing.

 

The final event was following the death of Pharaoh, and all of his horsemen, who were drowned as the wall of water from the Red Sea swallowed them up. Finally, Miriam’s fifteen seconds of fame.

 

²⁰ Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced. ²¹ And Miriam sang this song:

“Sing to the Lord,
    for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider
    into the sea.”        NLT

 

Whether we ever experience our own fifteen seconds of fame, it’s easy to relate to Miriam. She had her good moments, and her bad. And like her, most of us live pretty quiet lives; uneventful even.

 

But, we can also be inspired by her. Between tracking her baby brother Moses, which resulted in him staying alive to lead Israel to the Promised Land; and leading a celebration of one of the most memorable acts of God in the Bible; I think you’d have to agree that she played an integral part of God’s plan of redemption.

 

What part are you playing in His plan?

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

 

For Such a Time as This

A Series on Women in the Bible

 (Use the link below to read the verses.)

Esther 4:1-17

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

 

During spring break of my sophomore year of college, my high school girlfriend, and fiancé, broke up with me. When I returned to school, which by the way, there were ten guys for every girl; my prospects were slim to none. I felt hopeless and depressed to the point where I almost flunked out of school.

 

The following summer, my degree program required a summer term of field work. There was a guy in the program who invited me to church with him where, low and behold, there were pretty girls everywhere. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

 

One night, my friend shared with me about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For such a time as this, Ken Baker, had literally changed my life forever.

 

The book of Esther tells us the story about how her cousin Mordecai raised her as his only daughter because both of her parents had died. Mordecai and Esther were exiled to Persia.

 

During a festive banquet for many high officials, King Xerxes was humiliated by Queen Vashti. As a result, he deposed her, and sponsored a beauty contest to choose the next queen.

 

Scripture tells us that Esther “had a lovely figure and was beautiful”. Because of this, she was forced to participate in the contest. After a yearlong of beauty treatments, she was taken to the king’s bed. Following this, he made her his queen.

 

The situation became desperate when Haman, who was the most powerful man in the king’s service, manipulated King Xerxes to decree that all Jews be killed. 

According to my NIV study Bible, these events “threatened the continuity of God’s purposes in redemptive history. The future existence of God’s chosen people, and ultimately the appearance of the Messiah, were jeopardized by Haman’s edict to destroy the Jews.”

 

Mordecai sent this message to enlist Esther’s help.

 

¹³ “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”             NLT

 

Making a bad situation worse, Esther had never disclosed to King Xerxes that she was a Jew. Plus, by law, anyone who went into the king’s presence without an invitation, was subject to death.

 

For such a time as this, Mordecai told her. The Lord had placed her in just the right place, at just the right time. Esther risked her life, and faithfully submitted to the Lord, changing the lives of a whole nation. My friend, Ken Baker, faithfully followed the Lord, and changed my life.

 

Where has the Lord placed you, for such a time as this?

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams