Surprises are one of my love languages for sure. I love being surprised by anyone. Mostly, my husband of course. The ‘just because’ flowers on a bad day, an unexpected trip to get a coffee or even just a sweet kiss on the cheek when I am cooking dinner. Now after saying all of this… getting surprised by our gracious, merciful, powerful, heavenly father completely takes the cake. I mean, it’s exciting and scarey at the same time. To be reassured that God is listening to you is by far one of the coolest surprises I have and will ever experience.
This past Sunday, I was not feeling well at all. I could not stop coughing and sneezing on the way to church. I was almost about to tell the hubs to turn the car around and go home but the Holy Spirit was urging me to stay strong. So we went to church but at first it wasn’t a happy time. I felt miserable and truth be told, I am irritated very easily in moments like those. When we arrived, I was snapping at my husband left and right. It all could have been avoided if I wasn’t in such a grumpy mood from my cold. So, we sat in the car having a major disagreement of who knows what. But thankfully, by God’s grace, we forgave each other and made it to church on time.
Ready for the surprise? Well here it is, the chapter that the pastor was going to dive into on this particular Sunday was Ephesians 5, starting at verse 22.
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22).
Whoa, talk about a smack in the face as soon as I sat down. I immediately turned to look at my husband’s facial expression after the pastor read aloud the verse. Of course, it was that adorable smirk he gets when he is reminded that the Lord is with us.
I have definitely read and heard Ephesians 5:22 numerous times but this was different. The pastor talked about what this verse meant. What God intended the roles of a man and a woman to be in marriage. Marriage is so incredibly beautiful and with it’s beauty it’s soul purpose is to glorify Our Heavenly Father.
As a woman, or more generally a human, we want what we want… and we want it NOW! No, seriously we do. We want to be satisfied first before we can satisfy anyone else or God. This is the very reason why Paul writes about submission in marriage. God revealed to Paul that we are all such selfish individuals that without submission marriage would never work!
You see, submission is one of the key aspects in walking in the Christian faith because it allows a person to humble themselves to the realization that they are no better than any other Christian. This is because in God’s eyes we are all equal.
The command “Wives, submit to your own husbands…” isn’t for the husbands to bark demands out to their wives or show that the husband ‘wears the pants.’ The command is there for wives to take charge in their submission and to willingly and lovingly offer it to their husbands. It’s a command because we won’t naturally do it, it’s something we must actively think to do e v e r y s i n g l e d a y. In doing this God is glorified.
As you see at the end of verse 22 it says… “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” This is something we must not forget, because it’s the soul purpose of why we need to obey this command. As an obedient wife who is walking with Christ, our ultimate ruler is the Lord, who we must submit to first.
So, because God is our number one priority and love, we should lovingly submit to our husband as an act of obedience to the Lord. We should do this all the time because it is God’s will for us, as wives. It doesn’t matter if you think your husband deserves it or not, as long as your husband is not asking you to do or get behind a stance that isn’t biblical, we should ultimately submit to them.
This is not easy at all. It wasn’t meant to be easy. That is why we must pray for our husbands all the time and that God can direct their paths. Our prayers are so important because as a union we are the complete image of God and we must represent it to our best. The only way we can do that is to always be asking for God’s help!
God is awesome, and he is always listening. I pray that you all can have an amazing experience like me and my husband did sometime soon with our wonderful God!
To read more from me you can check out my blog, I try to post at least once a week, at countonlaura.blogspot.com. Praying for you all! Xo – Laura
Laura,
The beautiful thing about that submission we give, is that it puts us directly under God’s umbrella of faithfulness. And it is a good point to note that the key is not about our husbands deserving it…because right there is where Christ shines in glory- none of us get what we deserve because of HIs sacrifice. Our submission is an outer expression of the inner working of Christ’s grace and truth in our lives. It’s one of those lessons, as women , I think we have to keep coming back to! Great post!