It excites me very much to see many young men of God rising up in ministries all over Bangalore, India and beyond.

That set me thinking..are we missing something? Or someone?

Here’s a very familiar story from the bible, taken from Mark 5:38-42

When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”
The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.

Most of us know the story of the 12 year old daughter of Jairus, whom Jesus raised from the dead.

These were the words Jesus used then, ‘Talitha Koum’, which is Aramaic for ‘Little Girl, Get Up or Young Girl, I say unto thee, Arise!’

Those are the same words Jesus is using even now.

But the great question of the hour is this, where are the little girls in the church?

Why aren’t any of the young women showing up? Does God show gender partiality by calling and anointing only the men, or is the Christian society continually pushing the young girls to the traditional responsibilities of marriage, managing their home and children, or into purely secular careers?

While I do believe that ministry involves, home, corporate, and family, I also believe in God calling us beyond that with apostolic, evangelistic, pastoral, teaching or prophetic mantles, where a person is exclusively trained and set apart to be a minister. Why isn’t the church doing that with the sisters? Are we afraid of female dominance in the ministry?

Many quote 1 Timothy 2:12 to explain that woman should not preach, teach or minister. Paul only prohibited women from teaching with the danger that they will end up exercising authority over the men, not just at church but even at home, consequently leading to deception like the case of Adam and Eve.

The danger in the New Testament Church, who didn’t have the cannonized form of the entire scripture in everybody’s hands, was that they could be easily deceived and led astray by any one person’s teachings and sayings. That’s something we do not have to worry about today. Whatever is taught on the podium can be consequently verified, attested or rectified based on the authority of the scriptures.

Since the word of God is the final authority over our lives and churches, we don’t have to worry about being deceived or dominated by one person’s teachings. Hence, we have to shake away that old notion that women are not meant for ministry or leadership.

I can imagine Jesus walking into the churches of today and speak over the woman and the girls in the church, ‘Talitha Koum’: Little Girl, I Say to You, Arise!

That’s the heart of God for the sisters in our churches, not that they lie dead and the society continue to sing funeral songs over them, but that they arise and take their rightful place in the church and the ministry. When women arise, they would do so with such passion and heart that would put even the strongest of men look weak.

The church of today has not yet seen what God can do through a generation of passionate women who are relentlessly on fire for God!

If you are a pastor, empower the women in your church. If you are a husband, encourage your wife. If you are a father, equip your daughter.

If you are a woman, strengthen yourself in the Lord and Arise! This is your year, and today is your day! Arise and Shine, for the glory of God has risen upon you!