And his daughter was Sheerah,
who built lower and upper Beth-horon, also Uzzen-sherah.
1 Chronicles 7:24

A couple weeks ago, my read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan assignment was in 1 Chronicles. Usually, forays in Judges, Joshua, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles are right up my alley since I’m a history buff. But the first nine books of 1 Chronicles consist of pages and pages of genealogy. Talk about a yawner!

Still, this dedicated rule follower slogged through each day’s assignment. Well, I maybe, kinda, sorta skimmed through the verses instead of reading them carefully. But even so, one verse in the guy stuff genealogy of Ephraim in 1 Chronicles 7caught my eye. According to verses 20-24, enemy raiders killed Ephraim’s sons, and he went into a deep depression. It took a whole lot of help from friends and family to snap him out of it, but eventually he rejoined the world. And eventually, another son came along. Then, at the very end of all the guy stuff, the writer added a verse about Ephraim’s daughter, Sheerah. You remember Sheerah? She’s the daughter who built some cities.

The daughter who built some cities?

What kind of Old Testament genealogy verse is that? Usually only guys are mentioned in the who begat who begat who. Women rarely make an appearance, though Rahab the harlot and Ruth, the great-grandmother of David get an occasional nod. But the accomplishments of women are rarely mentioned, so rarely that the ones in print deserve some attention. No wonder the passage grabbed my attention and the questions started rolling.

Who was Sheerah? What talents and abilities and education did she have? How did she find courage to build cities in an ancient, patriarchal culture? Who mentored her? Who encouraged her? Why did she do it?

A search through several Bible commentaries yielded no answers. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Sheerah and her accomplishments, sparkling gems recorded in Scripture because the presence of these little jewels has implications for women today, including women at GCC. If God raised up Sheerah to build cities in an ancient culture not known for championing the rights and abilities for women, how does he raise up women in our day and age to impact our world? How can women hone their talents and abilities so they’re prepared to advance God’s kingdom? How can they express themselves creatively to the glory of God?

This fall’s GCC Women’s Ministry Conference, Expressing Christ, will be a day dedicated to exploring and answering those questions. It will be filled with food, music, artistic expression, and fellowship designed to get your creative juices flowing. So women, mark your calendar for Saturday, October 15 and join the ranks of the remarkable women God is raising up to do His work.

Sheerah the city builder is one of them.
And so are you.