Dorcas Stutzman - Trust Or Control

Copyright October 2013

Dorcas Stutzman

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner, except for the inclusion of brief quotations for review.

For additional copies contact:

Dorcas Stutzman

PO Box 176 Ronks, PA 17572

Email: straitpathsministry@gmail.com

ISBN: 978-0-9910171-0-2

Designed and printed by:

Sugarcreek, Ohio

schlabachprinters.com

Contents

Introduction

My Dear Friend,

Many questions stream through my mind as I prepare to publish this book. Will I be able to clearly communicate the burden of my heart? What if people hate me for what I say? Am I really capable of doing this? So many questions, yet somehow so much peace in my heart!

We are all on a journey, and I am inviting you to travel with me as I share part of my own journey. The path may not always be smooth, but I beg you to hang in there with me to the end. You may feel unpleasant feelings stirring inside as you read. You may even get angry at me and throw this book across the room. I ask only one thing hear me out to the end. Please believe that my hearts desire is for Gods kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven! I weep and pray to that end.

I am writing this book primarily to women. There are many things that could be spoken to the men, but that is not my aim here. Do not let the enemy take your mind down that road and blind you to seeing your own needs! It is time for us to find healing so that we can think with the mind of Christ and walk in His plan instead of living and reacting through the filter of our wounds. Believe me, I know how deep some of those wounds can go. Been there, done that.

This book is not meant to be an easy read, but rather a call to repentance and healing. After all, dont those two come hand in hand? How easy it is to look out at others and think that if they would change, then things would get better. I call you, my friend, to stand up and LIVE! Put on the mind of Christ. Live as He lived. Walk as He walked. And yes, obey as He obeyed. No more excuses, no more casting blame. Its time for a total surrender to the cross of Christ, because in that cross you will find the very life and power of God.

I love you! Perhaps you are a friend whom I have not yet met, but I want you to know that I have already prayed for you. I long for you to walk in abundant life and healing. As the God of heaven allows the seed to fall, may your heart be the good soil that produces abundant fruit in His kingdom! If not on this earth, perhaps we can catch up on the streets of gold someday!

With all my heart,

Dorcas

Foreword

There are a few special, truly great people in this world. These are folks who have passed from the common to the uncommon, from the daily routine to what could be. These are they who have reached into the great beyond, touched eternity, and pulled eternal purpose into their lives. This eternal purpose illuminates them and enlivens them to be what others dream of. There are a few.

Among these few, some are women. They are women who perform the mundane, but who do so with such divine clarity that even the mundane breathes eternity. They may live in a mud hut, but were you to enter, you would believe yourself to be a celebrated guest in a palace. Only eternity will reveal how these few have shaped our world. There are a few.

Among these few women, there are an even rarer few who understand the time, the men they live with, and the childrens hearts under their care. They have heard the Fathers heart, and they breathe it into existence around them, into the men they love. They are not dissuaded by our mistakes and failures, for their hope is not in us as men, but in eternity itself, even as it is revealed in us.

Among these rare women are the truly exceptional ones with both a gift and a calling from God to communicate these realities to others in an anointed way. Add in the extraordinary experiences that shaped this author, and we are down to only a handful of individuals in the world. Let me just say for the record that I am ecstatic that she is my wife.

The book you are holding can greatly affect your life. There may be things in here that you do not like or understand at first. But from my perspective as her husband and the father of her children, allow me to say this: if she says it, sit up and pay attention. Dorcas knows what she is talking about in a way I find truly uncommon.

To Dorcas, my wife of twenty years, I say, You still have it. The beauty and excitement of your youth has become a deep settled glow of glory that emanates from your spirit, washing over anyone who gets close. Thank you for allowing me to be close and for being the best friend I can imagine. You deserve to be heard.

To you, my friend, the reader: may God open your spirit to become all that He saw for you before ever you were born. May His Spirit rest upon you and lead you into freedom, rest and peace.

Stephen Stutzman

September 2013

The Matriarchal Spirit What is It?

Years ago in a distant land lived a young family. This family was probably very similar in many ways to my family or yours, just a husband and a wife and several children living together in a cozy house. One day a visitor came to see them and shared with them the beautiful plan of salvation. Although it was the first time they had ever heard this message, both the husband and the wife received it and invited Christ into their hearts and lives.

This couple lived in a time and place where followers of Jesus were persecuted relentlessly. It was not long until there was a loud knock at the door and soldiers arrested the young father, taking him to prison for his faith. In prison he faced the most awful conditions and torture one could ever imagine. The soldiers were determined to make him renounce his faith! Day after day he was tortured. Day after day he stood firm in his faith. The soldiers could not make him budge an inch!

Then one morning he awoke to the harsh sound of his cell door swinging open. Into the room marched the commanding officer and his men. They yanked him to his feet roughly as the officer sneeringly told him, Today is the day you will renounce your faith! Today you will beg for mercy! As the soldiers dragged him out of prison and took him away, the young father wondered. What do they mean? Why is today any different?

But when they marched him to the edge of a quarry and he looked down to see his wife and children in a little huddle at the bottom, they didnt have to tell him why today was different. He knew. They didnt even have to point out the pile of huge rocks sitting on the edge of that deep pit, nor the soldiers standing by to push them over the edge and crush his precious family below. He knew. In that moment, this strong, courageous young father, who had not wavered in all the previous torture, began to waver. Down at the bottom of that gravel pit were the ones dearest to his heart. Surely God would understand if he wanted to save his family!