Questioning
23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:23-24
Ugh. This one gets me every time.
I really don't spend much time questioning the workings of our Lord. If I am questioning anything in my faith, it's my faith. Usually, I ask God to reveal my sinful heart. What am I doing wrong? I bring it before Him, and ask for wisdom. I confess my sins. I try to look for opportunities to serve Him. My prayers are spent often, in praise to God. I ask Him for wisdom as far as where to go, and what to do. I long to bring Him glory.
Okay, before those who are adamant regarding women's rights close their minds to this blog post, hear me out. After considering the verse in Ephesians, I have been looking into what God has in store for me, as a wife.
The first question I would ask might be: what are my rights in marriage? What do I deserve? Where do I go wrong? And finally, how responsible is Jon in our disagreements?
I've been learning that I have been looking at it all wrong.
I have been reading Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick. And one theme has been sticking. Each day, you are asked basically to do something for your spouse, or change something about yourself. And in so doing, I have realized one thing:
I question Jon a LOT.
I question his decisions, his habits, his relationships...I question the way he treats me. I question the way he treats the kids. I have him under a microscope as far as what I think he should do or say. I am always QUESTIONING him.
I would not think it would be too far out of reach to say that most women question their husbands. We have it figured out when it comes to them. We have analyzed them. We have critiqued them. We have tried our darnedest to change them. And we fail.
Ok- so maybe it's just me. I fail. In fact, I often push him back. No matter how hard I pray for him, or love him, or manipulate him, I push him away when I unload my ideals of who he should be onto him.
God wants me to stop thinking so much about Jon. In fact, I have to take a step back and look at my relationship with the Lord. Unquestionably, my faith resides in Him. And I surrender my life to Him. I know that if God is not leading me, I will stumble. When I follow God, all out, He leads me where I need to be. I have assurance in this fact because He has consistently provided more than enough throughout my walk with him. But I have a hard time translating that way of thinking over to my marriage; maybe it's because I am a product of my culture. But, no offense you guys, our culture's depiction of marriage sucks. One of my best friends has the best outlook on it: our culture fails because marriage is failing. And I agree. I believe that when you fix our families, you can change our culture for the better. And a strong family begins with a strong marriage.
What are my rights? I have to stop it. I need to stop that way of thinking. What do I deserve. Nothing. I know that when I think of God. I don't deserve anything, but I have it. I have eternal life. I have the living God, who made the earth living inside of me. It's sad because He shows Himself to me constantly. He has certainly not only taken care of me, but blessed me beyond what I ever wanted, or feel I deserve.
When I start to question Jon, or become disparaged because of something he says, and react negatively, I breed negativity. It becomes a downward spiral where hostility and enmity live. My thoughts need to lie with a sense of respect. I never question God. And God asks that the wife submits to their husband. I don't believe that this is meant to be a negative thing the way that our culture so often likes to see it. I believe that in order for a marriage to work, someone needs to submit. And men are equipped, given by God, with the ability to lead. Regardless of how Satan tries to get me not to believe it, God put Jon in my life to LEAD me. And how can he do so if I am questioning him?
Surrendering is not easy. It means putting aside everything that you believe is right. And trusting that everything works out. It's not expecting that things will go your way, but the way they SHOULD go. I have yet figured out how to do so perfectly in my marriage, but I am learning.
I'm over this culture's ideas about how great it is when we get our own way. About the importance of women's rights, and that we deserve all of our wants. I don't believe we even know what that is, and so far, that doesn't work out very well. I don't need to name statistics about failed marriages, or depression rates, or effect on kids, because we are all fully aware. I am going to try my best to do it God's way.
To be continued...I'll tell you how it works out:)
Ugh. This one gets me every time.
I really don't spend much time questioning the workings of our Lord. If I am questioning anything in my faith, it's my faith. Usually, I ask God to reveal my sinful heart. What am I doing wrong? I bring it before Him, and ask for wisdom. I confess my sins. I try to look for opportunities to serve Him. My prayers are spent often, in praise to God. I ask Him for wisdom as far as where to go, and what to do. I long to bring Him glory.
Okay, before those who are adamant regarding women's rights close their minds to this blog post, hear me out. After considering the verse in Ephesians, I have been looking into what God has in store for me, as a wife.
The first question I would ask might be: what are my rights in marriage? What do I deserve? Where do I go wrong? And finally, how responsible is Jon in our disagreements?
I've been learning that I have been looking at it all wrong.
I have been reading Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick. And one theme has been sticking. Each day, you are asked basically to do something for your spouse, or change something about yourself. And in so doing, I have realized one thing:
I question Jon a LOT.
I question his decisions, his habits, his relationships...I question the way he treats me. I question the way he treats the kids. I have him under a microscope as far as what I think he should do or say. I am always QUESTIONING him.
I would not think it would be too far out of reach to say that most women question their husbands. We have it figured out when it comes to them. We have analyzed them. We have critiqued them. We have tried our darnedest to change them. And we fail.
Ok- so maybe it's just me. I fail. In fact, I often push him back. No matter how hard I pray for him, or love him, or manipulate him, I push him away when I unload my ideals of who he should be onto him.
God wants me to stop thinking so much about Jon. In fact, I have to take a step back and look at my relationship with the Lord. Unquestionably, my faith resides in Him. And I surrender my life to Him. I know that if God is not leading me, I will stumble. When I follow God, all out, He leads me where I need to be. I have assurance in this fact because He has consistently provided more than enough throughout my walk with him. But I have a hard time translating that way of thinking over to my marriage; maybe it's because I am a product of my culture. But, no offense you guys, our culture's depiction of marriage sucks. One of my best friends has the best outlook on it: our culture fails because marriage is failing. And I agree. I believe that when you fix our families, you can change our culture for the better. And a strong family begins with a strong marriage.
What are my rights? I have to stop it. I need to stop that way of thinking. What do I deserve. Nothing. I know that when I think of God. I don't deserve anything, but I have it. I have eternal life. I have the living God, who made the earth living inside of me. It's sad because He shows Himself to me constantly. He has certainly not only taken care of me, but blessed me beyond what I ever wanted, or feel I deserve.
When I start to question Jon, or become disparaged because of something he says, and react negatively, I breed negativity. It becomes a downward spiral where hostility and enmity live. My thoughts need to lie with a sense of respect. I never question God. And God asks that the wife submits to their husband. I don't believe that this is meant to be a negative thing the way that our culture so often likes to see it. I believe that in order for a marriage to work, someone needs to submit. And men are equipped, given by God, with the ability to lead. Regardless of how Satan tries to get me not to believe it, God put Jon in my life to LEAD me. And how can he do so if I am questioning him?
Surrendering is not easy. It means putting aside everything that you believe is right. And trusting that everything works out. It's not expecting that things will go your way, but the way they SHOULD go. I have yet figured out how to do so perfectly in my marriage, but I am learning.
I'm over this culture's ideas about how great it is when we get our own way. About the importance of women's rights, and that we deserve all of our wants. I don't believe we even know what that is, and so far, that doesn't work out very well. I don't need to name statistics about failed marriages, or depression rates, or effect on kids, because we are all fully aware. I am going to try my best to do it God's way.
To be continued...I'll tell you how it works out:)
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