Jul. 27, 2009 - Obedience to our king
Public speaking is one of my least favorite things to do. I know I'm not alone in that. I've given a few speeches or talks in my life. The one that was absolutely the scariest was in front of 2,500 people at my high school graduation. I was the salutatorian, and at that moment was wishing that I my GPA was just 1/10th of a point lower so the 3rd ranked student would have beaten me.
I started off my speech with this:
"Class of '89, Gulf High faculty, members of the school board, family and friends. It is a great honor to address you on this happy occasion, but I must admit, to quote Winston Churchill, "There are few activities from which I derive intense pleasure, and speaking is not one of them'."
Truer words were never spoken.
Still, to this day, when I hear the song Wind Beneath my Wings which was sung just prior to my speech, my heart races and I start sweating.
About 2 months ago, I was asked to lead a workshop at an annual retreat for women in Kentucky at a church in Elizabethtown. My very first thought was "What excuse can I use to get out of this one." I heard Wind Beneath My Wings start to play.
I decided to pray about it. Genuinely pray. After praying almost every night, the more I prayed the more I felt that I was supposed to agree to speak at this workshop. They had asked me to talk about training children in the Word of God. I thought about how much God had shown me in the past 13 years in the area of training children to know the Word....how many hundreds of hours I've spent doing just that, and how I wish that I knew now what I knew as a very young mom. So I felt God was showing me that I needed to share with other moms what God had shown me.
The topic was called "Training Tots to Teens to know the Word of God." It really helps that I don't feel comfortable talking in front of crowds whether 5 or 2,500. It really forces me to ask God for wisdom, to ask His words to flow out of my mouth when the time came.
I felt prepared...I brought chocolate to hand out to the audience (You can never go wrong bribing with chocolate--hehe)
I talked for 45 minutes about how to train children to know the Bible and Bible memory, and at the end with questions and answers, I felt I finally knew what another purpose of my talk was. It ran 15-20 minutes over time.
We got totally off topic once a young mom asked a question about how to raise godly children with an unsaved husband. She claimed that her husband wanted her to do things against the Bible. I asked for an example, and she said that he didn't want her to tithe, but she did anyway any chance she could, and that soon he would deploy and she would be able to give a lot and he wouldn't know.
I told her that she absolutely had to stop tithing. She was flabbergasted that I would tell her to do something against Scripture, until I pointed out that submitting to her husband, even an unsaved husband was following Scripture. I explained that by praying for him, submitting to him in love even and especially when he knew her thoughts about this and other topics would quite possibly win him to the Lord, but by rebelling and being deceitful, it would only turn his heart against her, the church and God.
With the exception of 1 lady there, they were all dealing with either unsaved husbands or husbands who did not spiritually lead their families. Most of them, it seemed had taken the reigns of leading the home thinking it was the right thing to do. One lady, thankfully, had been married to an unsaved man, and she testified that by her submitting to him, he admitted later that actually drew him to Christ. She was a shining example of what I was trying to relay to the group. (1 Corinthians 7)
I share this because I know there are so many women out there in similar situations. In fact, a few of my closest friends are in this situation. It is not our first desire or instict to submit, it is a choice and something you have to practice. Even when you are married to a sweet, godly man, it can occasionally be a challenge. So I just wanted to encourage all of you ladies, to make a choice to submit to your husbands in love. We truly were created, it says in Genesis, to be HIS Helpmeet. It doesnt' say he was created to be ours. So stop the attitudes, stop pouting, and joyfully serve and love your man. Do it joyfully, and you will feel joyful. When you serve him, you are really serving the Lord, so if it helps to view your servanthood and submission as unto the Lord, do it. You will be blessed as you bless and serve your husband.
Here is a great quote that not only applies to this, but every area of our lives:
When this glorious King commands us, it is not for us to question, or argue or hesitate or decide for ourselves whether we will obey and to what extent. That's complete foolishness. In fact, we should count it the highest privilege to leap into action at His slightest bidding, without a moment's thought for our own convenience or comfort. --Brother Andrew
Comments
Jul. 27, 2009 - This is a truth that I don't even know if we can get to the bottom of here on Earth...
Posted by Cathy
because it's by our submitting/supporting that our husbands then are freed to honor and love us as Christ loved the church. It's as complex as it is simple.
I also think that in the concept of helpmeet there's much more than submission...there is bridging the areas in support your husband needs bridged. For my husband that sometimes means facilitating communication with others, encouraging him, building him up, holding him up where he is weak (with support and not nagging).... As it looks more and more like we may not be blessed with more children I've prayed for and gained a new passion in my role as wife. I think it's less temporal than even a parent/child relationship....certainly it's meant to last longer on this earth. We need to be putting as much effort and energy in our role of wife as we do in our role as mother...that's convicting and exciting...the results are amazing when we do. I also think we when we put our husbands/wives first it sends our children an important message...one writer (Lou Priolo, great stuff) says that much rebellion/anger in children is because the parents have misplaced them in the family - raising the child's stature (in attention/resouces) above the spouses to one another. Just rambling...but I wanted to say the spiritual truths I've learned in practicing submission to my husband are priceless.
Jul. 29, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
When you are married to an unbeliever, you sometimes feel like your in this battle all alone. Thanks for the encouragement, its nice to know that while others might not be in the same situation that they do understand what a struggle it can be.
