Friday morning Union University hosted one of the most prominent woman Christian leaders in society today, Lysa TerKeurst. TerKeurst is the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the New York Times best-selling author of 19 books.
TerKeurst and her team at Proverbs 31 Ministries walk with thousands each and every day on their journey with Christ. Proverbs 31 Ministries is an online ministry that has daily devotions, radio programs and online Bible studies.
TerKeurst spoke in chapel on Friday and was the speaker for Union’s annual Women’s Conference this year on Saturday.
“Having read Lysa’s books and Bible studies for many years, hearing her speak live and meeting her was surreal,” Kait Martin senior public relations major said. “She is hilarious and kind and lives out what she speaks.”
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On Friday, TerKeurst met students right where they were and told them rejection, disillusionment and discouragement is real.
She opened her Bible to 2 Chronicles and asked everyone to repeat the statement, “There is no shame in turning to the table of contents.”
Laughter filled the air and students put their phones down to look up for the first time at this woman who all of the sudden seemed extremely relatable.
TerKeurst spent the next thirty minutes speaking about Jehoshaphat, worshiping the Lord and letting the Lord fight our battles.
“Our job is to obey God and His job is everything else,” TerKeurst said.
She reiterated the need of God’s control of our lives on Saturday in her two-part speech to a sold out crowd of 1,200+ women. Here she spoke from 2 Samuel and the start of David’s story in the Bible.
David was looked over by his father when Samuel came to Jesse seeking the next king of Isreal. Later in the story, David was told “Who is this David, son of Jesse?” and immediately felt rejection all over again and was ready for war. TerKeurst pointed out had David realized the big story of his life in God’s eyes, he would have never geared up for battle.
“You can either choose the perspective of looked over by man or hand picked by God,” TerKeurst said.
She proceeded to remind each woman the importance of their life and where they were at in that moment. The Lord calls us to live lives that glorify Him regardless of if we’re the president of a very successful ministry or a waiter and a local restaurant. It’s all about the perspective we chose to have for the day and TerKeurst encourages us all to chose Jesus.