“I think people today are hungry. I believe that they’re seeing God do some things through women, and they can’t deny the power of God that’s there. They can’t deny the results. … I think because they are seeing that, they’re having to say, ‘Hey, we need to take another look at these Scriptures and what they really mean.’”
What was the largest obstacle you personally faced in becoming a woman leader?
“Well I think that the largest, greatest thing that I had to deal with early on was what I called the fear of man. That doesn’t mean male gender. I’m talking [about] people. I didn’t really know that that was the problem. All I knew was that I couldn’t speak to many people without my voice just shutting down.
“I was in a meeting a few years after I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and I heard Joy Dawson, and she made a statement that changed my life. She said, ‘You will never walk in the fear of the Lord until you deal with the fear of man in your life.’ Well, for the first time in my life it was like I knew what I had, it was called the fear of man. I remember just falling on my face crying to the Lord for hours on end, ‘Lord set me free of the fear of man, I want the fear of the Lord in my life.’
“And so God just began to do some things. So every time I’d get ready to speak to a few people … I would hear the Holy Spirit say to me, ‘Barbara, is this the fear of man or is this the fear of the Lord?’
I had to make a choice, and I would say, ‘Lord, with everything in me I choose the fear of the Lord. If I fall on my face, make a fool of myself trying to please You, I’m willing to do it.’ Because so many times we want to be perfect and we want to look perfect. And I knew I had to be willing to be a failure in front of everyone if I was trying to please God.
“So I would just say, ‘I choose the fear of the Lord.’ The more I did that the less hold that other had. It didn’t go away overnight, but it did go away. Today I never even think about it. In fact people say I’m one of the boldest people around. So that was a hindrance in my life.”
Barbara Wentroble is founder
International Breakthrough Ministries
Web site
Phone: (972) 870-0208
Fax: (972) 753-0208
