About Author Mary Weins

Mary has led many Bible study groups in homes, the church environment, and jail ministries; Mary has worked in various women’s ministries and is a writer, speaker, and Bible Teacher.

Mary has written “Letter from Paul: To the church in Galatia…and Us!

This book contains Christian fiction intermingled with an easy-to-read Bible study/personal commentary and questions to enhance readers’ understanding of the scripture and how it relates to their lives personally.

Guest Blog Post: Don’t Let Fear Rule – Ask God for Direction

We often delay self-gratification out of fear. Fear of the unknown, waiting for something to back up our plans, waiting until we can afford ‘it.’ The problem is that this is often just a convenient excuse not to do the things we fear. What if it doesn’t work? What if I go broke in the process? What if my body can’t handle it? And so on.

Is there something you’ve wanted to do and feel led by God to do it? Maybe you should sit down and write out all the advantages of doing it, then list all of the negatives or possible negatives to doing it.

Once everything is down on paper, consider the negatives one at a time. How could you eliminate or minimize the negatives? Do the positives outweigh the negatives? Check-in with God. He is the best source of direction. I know there have been several times in my life when I was uncertain. I would go to God in prayer and think He said to go ahead, but I still felt uneasy about proceeding.

Through sometimes painful experiences, I have learned that the ‘uneasy’ feeling is God letting me know that I need to either give up on the idea or seek His counsel of what to do next before proceeding. When your plan is in alignment with God’s plan, there will not be a hint of doubt in your mind if you are genuinely seeking His direction.

For over four years, I thought about writing my book “Letter From Paul: To the Church in Galatia…and Us!” However, I never felt it was good enough, and maybe I wasn’t supposed to write it; perhaps I wasn’t a good enough writer – I couldn’t afford to publish it, and so on. Doubts took over my mind, and I could not write the book.

I asked God if I was supposed to write it during those four years. If so, how? What should I include or leave out? How should it be formatted, and a variety of other questions. Finally, God answered me with a firm conviction that I knew I had to write the book.

It came so fiercely and vividly in my mind just how He wanted it written. I began with an overview of the Book of Galatians, then a story depicting the message of each chapter, making it relevant to today. Next, I wrote an in-depth Bible study for each verse. The questions that followed were designed to help readers apply the lessons learned to their own lives. Finally, each chapter concluded with “Something to Ponder,” an overriding theme for that particular chapter; a prayer and a page for reflections about what they had just studied.

Knowing this was the will of God, I wrote and finished the book in six months. Of course, I had done the studies before writing the book. But it amazed me that I flew through it so fast once I got the go-ahead from God.

That is the way God works. He may not give us the go-ahead; first, there may be some growing to do or other things to do before starting your project, but God will let you know loud and clear when and how to proceed in any matter if you listen to Him in truth.

“Those right with God, who are without blame, make a straight way for themselves, but the sinful will fall by their own wrong-doing.” Pro. 11:5 (NLV)

“I will lead the blind by a way that they do not know. I will lead them in paths they do not know. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. And, I will make the bad places smooth. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them.” Isa. 42:16 (NLV)