Holly Furtick encourages women to become 'women of action' by hearing and acting on God’s voice in small, practical ways, and by relying on supportive female community rather than competing. She uses Mary visiting Elizabeth as a biblical example of aligning with others after accepting a calling, and develops an extended metaphor from elephant behavior—matriarchal herds that protect and nurture—to argue for attachment, mutual care, and collective support among women.
Chapters
Becoming a woman of action takes practice. And the absolute best thing that you can do for the people in your life that you love is be a healthy person yourself. It's to be a woman who is able to hear God's voice and act on it in the simplest, smallest ways. Put down your phone and you spend time with your child. Or maybe you send a text message. God just put somebody on your heart so you send it. It's the small things. God is good and he is patient, but he is not going to give you step two before you do step one. Now, the good news is that step one is still right there waiting for you right now. A woman who takes action understands that better is not out there. Better is right here. Right? And that woman is able to look around and figure out what is the next step that God wants me to take. What is something that I can do right now? And so what does Mary do? She goes to see Elizabeth. And this is the part of the story that really gets me. I'm really passionate about this. And I want you to understand that strong women understand the power of attachment. When I am confident in my calling, I don't need to compete. I don't need to compare. I simply need to align myself with those who can confirm what is already inside of me. You were never intended to live out your calling alone. And I'm not talking about having a husband. I am talking about having a group of women around you who will support you. But you have to get the order right first. You've got to get the order right first. Mary was aware, so she was able to hear from God when he spoke to her. Then she accepted the calling that God had placed on her life. Then she acted, and so she knew. What is the step that I need to take? Well, I'm gonna have a baby, so I better get around someone who's a little bit farther down the road from me. And the angel happened to tell me your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived. Now, you might be thinking she talks about friendship every year. Yes, I do. Because I still see women who don't get it. We need each other. I need you, and you need me. Over the past year or so, I've become obsessed with elephants. You may have caught onto that tonight because we got an elephant necklace and we've got an elephant ornament. We've got all these fun things, and it's because, well, it all started with a fiction book by Jodi Picoult. I don't know if anybody is a Jodi Picoult. Fan. I am a fan of fiction. And those of you who know me know that I just. I love stories. So I listened to this book. It was about elephants. And it got me really intrigued. So then I watched some YouTube videos and I watched a documentary. Then I listened to a memoir. It was just the whole thing. So I wanna share with you a couple things that I learned about elephants. Because they are an incredible species. They are among the most intelligent species of animals. Their intelligence can rival that of primates and dolphins and whales. Elephants can solve complex problems. They can recognize their reflection in the mirror. Self awareness. Shout out to reflect. Five years ago, if you were here. Elephants can dance to the beat of music, and they can even communicate with each other through infrasonic sounds, like these sounds that are inaudible to the human ear when they communicate six miles apart. But that's not the best part about elephants. To me, elephants are a matriarchal society, so this means that they kick the boys out when they become teenagers. And they operate as a unit. They care for each other's young. The older teach the younger how to watch for danger, how to find water in a drought. They grieve with each other. When one loses a baby, they slow down. When someone in their herd is sick or injured, and they have this thing that they do when one of their own is vulnerable, they circle up. I want you to look at this picture that I have for you. Keep it up there, because as you see, the elephants are in a circle, but the strong ones are facing out. And I want you to notice that there are some that are obviously older and bigger than others. There are some children there that are learning. This is what we do. This is a herd of elephants. And most likely what they're doing is they're either protecting the young from danger, which I don't think that's what's happening in this picture because we have the little one kind of poking his head out. Most likely what they're doing is one of their own is in labor. And so when one of their own is giving birth to something and they're in a vulnerable position, they circle up. They huddle around each other to protect their own from the outward danger that she is facing in that moment. And, ladies, I don't know if you've ever had the honor of having some women come around you during a time of need, but it is a beautiful thing to experience. I'm trying to get you to see tonight that, yeah, having roots does require you to do some things on your own, to be aware of God's presence and to accept your calling. Be ready to act and when you see that direction from God. But you're also going to need others to support you on your way. Hey, thanks for watching. I hope that that encouraged you today. Make sure that you subscribe so that you don't miss out on other videos like this and I'll see you back here next time.
