Well, a few things popped into my head. I could blame the media or the Women's Power movement. Those would be justifiable places to shift the blame. I mean, with all these shows that make the dad look like a goof and the mom look like the one in charge, who would blame a girl for "being influenced" by them and believing them? Well, although I do see that shift has occurred, I think it would be too easy to say that it was media influence or that it was because of a movement that happened before I was even born. It's an easy out, too easy. Well, alrighty, where can I go from there? Eve! The next best logical choice. Eve ate the apple. Right? Causing all woman kind to bear such great pain in childbirth. Eve. That has to be it. But as I see in Genesis 3:9-13, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the Serpent. Hm. Well, if you continue to read in chapter 3 you will find that God curses the serpent, tells Eve that childbirth will hurt (thanks Eve) and that "your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you". Meaning that God knew that there would always be a constant struggle for power in the marriage relationship. God then continues on with Adam saying (now this is very important for me and a huge eye opener I learned earlier last year in Bible Study), "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it', cursed is the ground because of you:" (Gen. 3:17) Wow! So because of Eve influencing her husband, because he listened to her, the fall of man began. Eve had a choice when listening to the serpent. A choice. Me. I am to blame for me. Not the media, a movement, or even Eve. Eve had a choice to listen to God, but chose not to. I also have a choice. Yes, the fall of man does play a huge role in all our lives with sin, but we always have a choice of whether to cave into temptation and believe the lies that Satan is telling us or to choose to take every thought into captivity and reject the enemy. So even though there might be outside influences that would teach me or tell me that I have every right to... fill in the blank. Or it's not your fault.. society has taught you that... I still have a choice. And for reasons not shown to me at this time, I am choosing not to listen. Just as the power of that fruit was so tempting and irresistible to Eve, so is the power in my marriage. "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands." Eph. 5:22-24
"However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." Eph. 5:33
Why is this so hard for me? It's not like God is asking me in these verses to respect or submit to my husband. No, He is commanding me to be respectful and submit to my husband. Not as a slave or not as a doormat, but that like a church submits to Christ. As Eph. 5:22 says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." We teach our children that when they disobey, they are not only disobeying us, but they are ultimately disobeying God. These verses are a really good reminder for me that I am not just submitting to my husband, who God has placed as the head of our home, I am ultimately submitting to God, my Savior, my Papa. How convicting the day has been as I dive into God's Love Letter in search of the root of it all. The root as to why it's so hard to yield. I have so much more to learn, so much further to go. All joking aside as to who is to blame for my unwillingness to yield, I know I have a lot of time on my knees ahead of me because I know that I am ultimately the one to blame for my own stubbornness. Funny thing about my stubbornness is that I can't even seem to get on my knees. That's another why question. Setting all the stubbornness aside for a second, I love my husband. No doubt about it. There is no one like that man of mine and I couldn't feel more blessed to be called his wife. No matter how much I love him though, that's not what God has told me to do. Loving him isn't the problem, it's yielding myself to him that is the issue. And that, I continue to search...
"1 Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it." Psalm 139: 1-6
That is why I go to my Papa. He knows me and cares for me and so much more. Who better to go to for answers than my Papa. There's so much more I'd love to write... until next time.
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