Investing In Tomorrow - Anna Shaw

1847–1919

Considered one of the influential leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, Anna Shaw worked tirelessly for women’s causes throughout her life. She frequently worked side by side with Susan B. Anthony. But she wasn’t just an activist; she was a minister in the Methodist Protestant Church. Her views on equality for women came from her belief that women and men are equal in God’s eyes. And even when she resigned from ministry to focus on some of her social causes, her thorough knowledge of the Bible and her skill in preaching proved valuable.

Though Anna dedicated much of her life to women’s issues, she died without seeing the final results of her fight. About a year before the Nineteenth Amendment of the US Constitution gave women the right to vote, she died of pneumonia at the age of seventy-two.

If Anna had known that she wouldn’t live to see the final outcome, would she have dedicated such a large part of her life to the cause of women’s suffrage? Most likely. She believed that what she was fighting for was what God wanted.

When God wants you to do something, he never promises that you’ll get to do it from beginning to end, see the fruits of your labor, and get recognition for your efforts. He only promises that he’ll be with you during the process.

Maybe you’ll jump-start a program at your child’s school during his last year there—a program that will end up benefiting other children, but not your own. Or maybe you’ll implement a new process at work that will help everyone perform more efficiently—right before you take another job elsewhere. Perhaps you’ll start a new ministry at church that someone else will ultimately lead.

Whatever it is, you can only do what God is calling you to do and not worry about how long you’ll be doing it, whether you’ll get to see it through to the end, or if you’ll get recognition for your efforts.

What is God nudging you to do? Don’t even think about whether you’ll be around to reap the benefits. The benefit comes from obeying God and letting him work through you.

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.

Proverbs 16:9