I’m not talking about the ultra feminist gals out there. I am talking about your every day, run-of-the-mill Christian woman. There are scads of us out there who know what the bible says. We believe what the bible says.
For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. Eph. 5:22
We want to do what the bible says. But when the rubber meets the road this is really, really hard. The concept is hard and the execution is even harder.
Sometimes we don’t do it very well. Sometimes we just don’t do it at all. Here’s why:
We don’t trust men with decisions.
Foolish spending. Bad investments. Career flops. Un-fun vacations.
Women are simply afraid of the unwise decisions we see some men make and we freak.
We want you to provide. We want you to lead. We want to see you flex your get-it-done, you’re-so-smart muscles.
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Cor. 16:13
We don’t trust men with our children.
Maybe you aren’t the careless lunatic we think you are. Maybe you really do know how to love, protect and nurture our kids. But when we see you throwing them in the air, feeding them pop corn for dinner and not bathing them it’s tough.
Maybe you do know how to get them to school on time, pick them up at the right place and make sure they get their homework done. But that blank stare that you meet us with when we say, “Did you get the kids?” leaves us with a little anxiety as we wonder if little Johnny is alone, crying in the principal’s office.
We want to see you care for them, teach them, nurture them and encourage them. We want you to be a rock star dad.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. Ps. 103:13
We don’t trust you with our soul.
Putting our souls into your hands is the most agonizing leap of faith we have to take. We need to see you live a prayerful life. We need to see you walking intentionally with the Lord every day. We need to see you in the word, going to church and nurturing your own spiritual life.
Then… then we will feel safe enough to release our own soul to you.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Eph. 5:25-26
So why do the whys even matter?
Well, because sometimes we need help. We need help to trust you. We need help to trust the plans of the Lord. We need help to obey.
Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Gal. 6:2-3
