Submission

So, this entry is on submission to husbands.
And if you're single, you're probably thinking ok I'll stop reading then.
If you're married, you're probably thinking I have no idea what that means.

Please don't stop reading.
You're right, I don't. :)

But, if ya'll didn't know, I love reading other people's blogs. I have kinda gotten stuck in a mesh of blogs about kids with health problems, high risk pregnancies, etc. And I recently found one, by a Christian woman nicknamed MckMama (and she nicknamed her kids Big Mac, Small Fry, MckNugget and MckMuffin for anonymity's sake). Her last child had severe heart problems, even while in utero, which led to an enormous amount of stress on her marriage and marital problems. She wrote a post on submission, and I just wanted to highlight some of the things I found in there that I thought we all could benefit from:

1. "It isn't my grip on things that keeps our little life chugging along so nicely. In fact, it was at my own hands that the life was being drained from my own marriage. It is God's grip on us, whether we choose to believe in Him or not, that is the only true grip. My grip was just an illusion."
--we don't have control over our lives! God is ultimately in control, and we are to submit and surrender to Him

2. "Likewise, there was and is nothing I can do to guarantee a fulfilling marriage with my husband.Nothing, that is, apart from choosing to follow God's will for my marriage."
--In all areas of life, there is nothing we can do to ensure a perfect outcome. We can chase after all the worldly pleasures we think we will bring fulfillment, but ultimately we will only find fulfillment in doing God's will.

3. "I am beginning to strive to speak nicely to my husband even when he is not doing the same. I seek to respect him even if he is not acting respectable. After all, I enjoy being loved even when I am unlovable! And God always loves us even when we are unlovable."
--Wow, I certainly don't have that attitude, do you? Am I so thankful that God loves me in spite of me that that thankfulness outpours in love for others? When we are married, there will doubtless be times when our husbands are not respectable and unlovable (in our eyes) but we must go against our natural inclinations. It reminds me of Pastor's sermon on forgiveness this past Sunday; we are forgiven SO MUCH that we MUST forgive others.

4. "What if marriage were meant to make us holy and not (simply) happy?"
--Sharon talked last night at Beautiful Minds about how our culture trains us to think that marriage is simply a romantic love, but there is a whole other reality. In all situations God has for us, He has designed those situations for our benefit, and we have the opportunity to please Him by praying that He would make us more holy. Plus...

5. "[I felt like God was saying,] 'Quit seeking happiness in your marriage by trying to find meaning and emotion in every single cotton pickin' thing your husband does or doesn't do. Just relax. Just be. Just serve me with your marriage. Prince Charming can never make you ultimately happy, anyway.' In surrendering my need to be fulfilled by another human being, I thought I'd be left with a bit of a hollow feeling. But the opposite has been true! In fact, I was just telling Prince Charming yesterday that I feel a weightless freedom that I have never known before. To not require him to meet my happiness needs doesn't leave me feeling unhappy"
--A husband CANNOT make us ultimately happy, anyway. That is too much burden on him! Only in God can we find ultimate happiness and fulfillment.


And that's that :) I have so many other post thoughts stored in my head at the moment though...and 2 whole free days of work!! ;)

"This is All That I Can Give...That's My Everything"

Tonight at Beautiful Minds, Sharon said something to the effect of, how much do we need God? How much do we want Him in our lives? A little bit of need? Or do we really truly NEED Him? Are we able to say to Him, God take all? Like the widow who gave her two coins, are we able to give Him everything we have, no matter how pitiful??

Then I go to the blog Bring The Rain (audreycaroline.blogspot.com) and this song by the David Crowder Band comes on:
Lord I'm tired
So tired from walking
And Lord I'm so alone
And Lord the dark
Is creeping in
Creeping up
To swallow me
I think I'll stop
Rest here a while

And didn't You see me cry'n?
And didn't You hear me call Your name?
Wasn't it You I gave my heart to?
I wish You'd remember
Where you sat it down

Chorus:
And this is all that I can say right now
i know it's not much
And this is all that I can give
yeah that's my everything

Bridge:
I didn't notice
You were standing here
I didn't know that
That was You holding me
I didn't notice
You were cry'n too
I didn't know that
That was You washing my feet


See the chorus? Our lives are nothing. There is not much we can bring to Christ. We don't have some great gift to bring. All we have is our pitiful lives. But He wants us to bring that--to bring our everything.

I am only starting to see a little piece of what God requires of me. Girls, what are you willing to give up? Consider the things He may ask of you:

*He may ask you to be single for the rest of your life. Can you submit that to Him?

*He may not grant you children. Can you submit that to Him?

*He may direct you to be a missionary in another country. Can you submit that to Him?

*He may take people away from you that you love. A breakup, a friend forsaking Christ, a child dying. Can you submit that to Him?


Tonight we learned about how Oswald Chambers was in a relationship with a girl he loved for eight years, and then gave her up because she was not God's will for him. Would you be willing to give up someone you loved for Christ? Completely give up your wishes in order to be in submission to Him?


SURRENDER ALL AND BE BLESSED!!