Hello Everyone,
I pray that all is well with everyone. I hope that you all enjoyed the short break and the journey with Eve. The journey through Eve was definitely eye opening for me. The discussion around the original sin in combination with my normal check-up with wise spiritual counsel definitely put a bulls-eye on my own personal struggle with true Godly submission. Honoring God's divine order of; God, man, woman, is easy when its obvious. The more quiet and delicate moments that appear invisible to the naked eye are more evident and apparent to the Holy Spirit. Submission is an intricate behavior necessary by all of us. The Holy Spirit is submissive to Jesus Christ as Christ is submissive to God. God's divine design of man is a true reflection of that; woman is submissive to man as man is submissive to God. We are all called to submit. We are called to submit to certain situations in our lives, especially ones we have no control over. We are charged to submit to people, jobs, crisis, illness, even our children, sometimes. Additionally, we all struggle with submitting in submission. Even Jesus prayed to God as He struggled to submit to His fate on Calvary (Luke 22:42).
Nevertheless, we are strengthened in Christ Jesus to walk in God's divine order of things (Luke 22:43). If we could maneuver through the struggle of submissiveness within our own will, then we would not be called to pray to Him for help or worship Him for triumph. Although, we should all worship Him because of who He is, and that should be enough, we have a tendency to worship and pray to Him because of what He does.
These thoughts and behaviors lead us straight to where God wants us to be: from Eve to the wife of Noah.
Resource
Genesis 7:7
"So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood."
Lesson
It is a known fact that Noah's wife is never officially named in the bible. Though she is not named, her presence is ever prevalent in the journey of Noah. He was a man of integrity who walked righteously and though he was mocked, she followed him and supported his call (Wolgemuth 2013). As a woman of God, she was charged to support her husband. Could you imagine supporting your husband as people laughed and gawked at him? What would your response be to the taunters?
We as women are designed to be helpers (Genesis 2:18). We are helpers to our husbands, bosses, co-workers, children, family members, friends, and associates. We have an innate nature to help. Our help is the fundamental foundation of support. We are the mortar that holds the bricks in place.
My husband recently expressed his gratitude for my availability. He had been ministering to a colleague who's wife works and travels a lot. My husband eluded to the idea that this colleague was exhibiting certain behaviors because his wife was so absent. He exclaimed how men need that barrier so they are not left to their vices. I responded with, "Could you imagine who you and most of your married friends would be if we did not have each other?" I am not trying to imply that men cannot exist without a woman, I am merely translating into layman terms what the bible, God's word, has expressed (Genesis 2:18). We need each other equally. A building is just a pile of bricks without the mortar and the mortar is just a lump of concrete without the bricks; neither can make a building alone.
Noah's wife was the mortar in supporting his decision to walk with Christ. They sought to live holy lives in a corrupt society (Wolgemuth 2013). Her support not only pleased Noah, but it also pleased God. After God surveyed the Earth, He found no one worthy of saving but Noah, his WIFE, and his family; Noah was deemed righteous by God (Genesis 7:1).Noah's wife was included in the benefits of her husband, through her obedience to God's divine order and her support to her husband.
Application
Are you practicing the characteristics that exhibit your innate design of helping? We, as women, have a tendency to hinder more than we help. We can succumb to the behaviors of Eve in the Garden of Eden that introduces sin in our lives. This week, let's practice more of a strong silent supportive presence like Noah's wife. Make a conscious effort to help over hindering. Pray the prayer of Psalms 19:14 to help you be a helper.
Have a blessed week!
Be blessed,
T. Carter
Reference
All scriptures are extracted from the New King James version of the Holy Bible. YouVersion (2014)
Wolgemuth, Barbara & Wolgemuth, Robert (2013). Couples of the Bible. Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, Michigan
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