The Changing of the Guard
By Dr. Patricia Bailey

In a recent conversation with one of my mentors, Sharon Daugherty, we discussed how many of our generals are transitioning into eternity. Of course, when we begin to see this happening around us, it leaves a vacuum waiting to be filled.

When Moses died, God had already begun to prepare a Joshua. As Elijah approached his time of transition, an eager Elisha immediately caught the mantle and filled the void. God never leaves Himself without a witness or vessel. The question to be pondered is: Are we willing to pay the price to yield ourselves to the Master’s call?

I was privileged to be mentored by Dr. Daisy Osborne, wife of T.L. Osborne, What a general of our time she was! Daisy, along with many generals before her, literally gave us a priceless legacy to build upon. We have their strength and frailties to glean from, their integrity and character to live up to, and their persistence and humility to learn from.

While we live in an age typified with cultural diversities, technology and the mass of web information, the demand for biblical principles, godly character, humility and living holy seem to be archaic. We must be careful not to masquerade behind our calling and charisma at the expense of giving the same measure of tenacity to developing our character.

We cannot afford, in this hour, to give more plaudits and praise to the style and delivery of the message as opposed to living the message. We are all transitory beings, sharing the same planet, and we are all here endeavoring to obey God and serve our generation in a space of time that is a vapor, according to James 4:14. We were born and purposed for much more than merely making it to heaven. We have been called according to His purpose and have been given the assignment of fulfilling His will on the earth, as the Father has prescribed it in heaven.

While we long for eternal security, there remains an unfulfilled mandate here on earth. If there is anything we should learn from our spiritual forefathers and mothers that have journeyed on, it is that they never lost their passion and quest for souls. As they approached the final days of their journey, they panted for souls … never diverting from the supreme task.

I will grant myself the liberty to cautiously name a few: E.V. Hill, Lester Sumrall, Archbishop Benson Idahosa and (Dad) Kenneth Hagin. We can see the common denominator that made up the fabric of their lives and ministries was their consistent and genuine love for people and a passion for lost souls.

The truth of the matter is the more selfless we become through lifting up His Name and allowing Him to be seen, the more we delve into His agenda and His purposes and truly become vessels for the Master’s use. Everything else becomes paper thin, a mere shadow in the light of Him.

We are called to be co-laborers with Him; in other words, we are privy and privileged to be joint-heirs to His agenda. We cannot build our own name, empires and ministries. He has a plan for our lives that was established before time began. He has orchestrated our seasons and numbered our days. He has positioned us in the Kingdom for such a time as this. His infinite foreknowledge allows Him the privilege of knowing where to place us at a specific time.

No other generation has ever had to face the challenges of this age. The face of our world is rapidly changing, and the task before us is forensically clear. Global politics are not as they were in the past century. Because we have crossed the threshold of the 21st century, we are now confronted with terrorism, same-sex marriage, ethnic cleansing, drug trafficking and partial-birth abortions.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees, there are more than fifty million dispersed refugees around the world seeking shelter, and the majority of those are women and children. In developing nations, especially in the 10/40 Window, eighty percent of the suffering and dehumanization is targeted toward women and children. If ever there was a time for enlistment by the Master, it is now! Second Timothy 2:4 states: “No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him” (The Amplified Bible).

Arise, daughters of complacency! Isaiah the prophet warns us that we are all admonished to hear His voice and to give ear to what concerns Him. (See Isaiah 32:9.) In Exodus 3:10, concerning the children of Israel, God said that the cry of the people came up to Him and His eyes witnessed their suffering. God came down by sending Moses.

With Deborah, God came down by sending a judge and prophet. With Esther, God came down by sending a mediator to be a voice for His people. Proverbs 31:8-9 declares: “Open your mouth for the dumb [those unable to speak for themselves], for the rights of all who are left desolate and defenseless; Open your mouth, judge righteously, and administer justice for the poor and needy” (The Amplified Bible). As women in this generation, we can no longer be content with auxiliary teas, fashion shows, or status positions. We can’t even find contentment in the title of first lady anymore. How can we give more attention to coordinating the colors of our conference outfits than we do to reaching out to invite in other women less fortunate than us?

A clarion call has gone out from heaven provoking women to rise to the occasion. There is a changing of the guard, and the baton has been passed to us to impact our families, our nation, and ultimately the world. We must become the ones who bear the standard because we are our brother’s keeper.

Women are needed in the forefront as never before because the global needs around the world affect women and children the most. Eighty percent of the population in the 10/40 Window is women and children, and of that eighty percent the majority do not have access to proper health care and education. Worldwide, more than 130 million children have never entered a classroom. In Sudan, only two percent of 7.5 million children complete primary school. Gang-rapes and the devalued state of women are still the challenge for most women in developing countries.

In Pakistan, forty-two percent of children are anemic, and many are sold by their parents to become indentured servants. In Angola, some fathers sell young girls between the ages of five and eight into prostitution. The needs of AIDS awareness programs is so great that most women between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine have never ever heard of the words HIV or AIDS.

Until we come to the altar of self and lay down our lives to be used by God, we will continue to be trapped in the patterns of normality and selfishness. We are all that God has. We cannot continue to wait for validation or acceptance, or live our lives yielding to the opinion of the majority. We cannot allow ourselves to be in emotional and social bondage, held hostage by what everybody else does or thinks. How can we be more concerned about being politically correct at the expense of being divinely guided? As we empty ourselves, we receive the revelation that it is not about anyone’s opinion, but about becoming yielded vessels, humbly eager to be used by a merciful God so we can change a desperate world.

Every time we bow and yield our will and calling to someone else’s opinion, a part of us dies. As Christ is exalted in our lives … the futile efforts of self go up as misty vapors. Because the greatest needs around the world affect women and children, the greatest candidates to meet those needs are godly women. The nucleus of society, like it or not, are women.

Fear of criticism and failure is what hinders many from moving out to do what God has called them to do. But just as God equipped those who have gone before us, He is the same faithful God to provide for us. The Word tells us according to Psalms 33:15 that “He fashions their heart individually” (NKJ). We also find comfort in 2 Timothy 1:9 which states: “Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (KJV).

When our self-willed focus is submitting to what He has called us to, our perspectives and views will change. What God is calling us to in this hour is far beyond ourselves. We have to begin to shift our paradigm of thinking in order to operate with the mindset of being responsible for our generation. What if it were our Palestinian teenager that prides himself on taking his own life as a suicide bomber? What if you were one of the women pastors of China living under the grip of persecution? (Eighty percent of the pastors in China are women.) If anyone should be praying for their protection and freedom it should be those of us who breathe the air of liberty without any thought.

What if it were our five-year-old daughter sold into prostitution in Angola or Sri Lanka, or our seven-year-old son enlisted in the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) in Sudan? When I work in massive refugee camps, especially the camps of Western Sahara, I am constantly plagued with the truth of this matter. It could have been me as one of the 200,000 who live in a scorching desert without running water and with desert full of children whose bodies have never been submerged in water!

As the guard is changing, so are the desperate needs of the world. Women are needed to address and confront unjust issues concerning women and children. Just as God cannot be separated from His people, neither should we. We are daily encompassed by a cloud of witnesses that have preceded us. As the guard is changing, we must determine not to be the generation that has done the least with the most. For to whom much has been given, much is expected.

Women have more rights, resources, and a voice that is stronger now than ever before in history. We have been liberated in Christ Jesus. A great awakening came to Esther as the guard changed from Vashti to her. For once Esther was confronted with the responsibility of her generation, and her undaunted response was: “and if I perish, I perish.” (See Esther 4:16, KJV.). In this hour the greatest need is not so much the willingness to die for the cause. Yet in many restricted regions, believers are required to defend their faith even to the point of death. I believe God needs a catalyst of women who are simply willing to live for Him. For our life is not our own, we have been purchased.

Can we hear the voice of the Master to our generation saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (See Isaiah 6:8, KJV.) By faith, I trust that as you are reading this article your heart is responding: “Lord, I will step to the plate and rise to the occasion … here am I Lord. Send me. I will go for You wherever You need me the most!”

You may be asking yourself, “How can I be used, and how can I be sent?” We may not have equal gifts and abilities, but we can have equal commitment. Prayer is a very powerful place to begin. Listed below are some prayer points you can start with:

1. More than twenty-five million children stand in need of foster care and adoption in the United States.
2. A woman is beaten every fifteen seconds; domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the years of fifteen and forty-four.
3. In the United States, 1.3 women are raped every minute.
4. There are now 150,000 women in U.S. prisons and jails. Seventy-five percent of them are mothers. Two-thirds of them have children under the age of eighteen.
5. Approximately 1,370,000 abortions occur annually in the United States. Fifty-two percent of these would-be mothers are younger than twenty-five years old and nineteen percent are teenagers.
6. Eighty percent of women and children in the 10/40 Window nations do not have proper health care, and little or no education.
7. Five out of every 100 students drop out of high school annually.

As a spirit-led woman, you can challenge other women to pray for our suffering sisters around the world, women who are not as fortunate as we are. If you are a member of a church auxiliary, women’s fellowship, a pastor’s wife, a woman in ministry, a homemaker, or a female student, there is a need for you to pray and to prompt your contemporaries to pray, give, and take action. NOW!

Say not that there are four months, and then I will reach out to my harvest. Regardless of your position or status, there is a harvest appointed to you according to Hosea 6:11. God is not looking for many who are noble or mighty, but rather He is looking for a yielded vessel willing to live.