4-9-08

In Charge

I had always been a follower. Safe. Sound. Quiet. In the background. That is, until the Lord jumped into my life. He has a way of making you into things you are not- like a leader. I don’t have a natural leadership ability or talent, but once this leadership thing takes hold, it tends to be a little pushy. It is especially true if self is not continually pushed out of it. Witness that fact in a recent (somewhat whiney) conversation with my dear husband: “Why does God always talk to you about things in our lives, like major plans and decisions, and why is the plan always something I don’t really want to do?” My husband did not really answer (guess he didn’t want to deal with the whine). He advised me to have it out with the Lord on that one. It didn’t take the Lord long to respond.

The second part of my question was answered first, as the Lord reminded me that my “self” is supposed to be put to death daily, if I am a serious follower of Him, and His will and ways are the best for me at all times. What I want and what He wants are not always the same (although I am working on that one, or to be more correct, I am asking Him to work in me on that one). To use the old phrase that our pastor reminds us of—(My Heavenly) Father knows best! All the time, I might add. But, not to worry, God’s Word also says that in those cases when we don’t have the same ideas, the power is at work in us to want to do it His way instead of ours (Philippians 2:13).

The first part of my query took a little longer to get the point, but it also became clear. God Himself set up the marriage and family structure, and has ordered it in a certain way. The husband is the head, the wife is the partner with him, and the children complete the picture. The Bible speaks of all of God’s children being servants of one another (Galatians 5:13). God also refers to the wife as the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7), and instructs her to submit to her husband (Ephesians 5:22-23). Children are instructed to obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1), and husbands are told to rule their households wisely (1Timothy 3:4-5).

If we look at the Biblical patterns, we see that many of the “big decisions” were given to the man by God. Looking at Adam and Eve, in the beginning, God told Adam the house rules for life in the garden. He was responsible for instructing Eve. The example that really struck me, however, and answered my above question was the circumstance of Abram and Sarai. In Genesis 12:1,

“The Lord said to Abram..”

I had to painfully notice that the text does not read that God gave Sarai a head’s up- And He confirmed His will to Sarai by telling her also. Nor does it say that after discussing the matter with Sarai, and seeing if she would agree, God spoke thus to Abram. The scripture simply states:

“Now the Lord said to Abram, “ Go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father’s house.”

(I would have started with the “buts” right there.)

“To the land which I will show you;

And I will make you a great nation,

And I will bless you,

And make your name great;

And so you shall be a blessing;

And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

That was a straightforward plan, and even though this was huge in terms of shaking their lives up, (Liz Curtis Higgs, in her book, Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible, notes that “The Lord Will Show You doesn’t appear on any map”), Abram’s response was to get up and go, and take Sarai with him. (Genesis12: 4-5) It is so direct God says this to Abram, and he does it. Period.

There are also other examples in God’s Word. God tells Isaac not to go down to Egypt, but stay in Gerar, so he stays (Genesis 26:1-6). God tells Jacob to get up and return to his homeland (Genesis 31:3) and he does. Give Jacob points for explaining the situation to his family in verses 4-13. Joseph leads Mary and the Baby to Egypt (Matthew 2:13).

So, my question always comes back to the question of who is in charge. Clearly, having surrendered my life and times to Jesus Christ, I am not. I gave that right to Him, if He would save me from myself. And that is His continual and patient task with me- to save me from my “self”. As for why He always speaks to my husband first… perhaps He knows He has softer soil there. It is one of those “God said” and the guy “got up and did” things. For some it takes awhile for the idea to find a home in the heart. I am working on the “awhile” being shorter.