Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Limitations of Womanhood

Today I have been reading Feminine by Design by Scott Brown. He breaks down Biblical femininity into 12 pillars. Pillar #6 is being a helpmeet. He makes the comment that being a woman has limitations. There are things as a Godly woman that we can't do, if we are committed to following God's ways. He also mentions that "by limiting the scope of [our] work, [we] are freed up to have a powerful focus." (pg. 46)

As I pondered this, I think it is true in two ways.First we are able, by narrowing our realm of operation, to really focus on the things we should be doing as women; meaning that we can take the time to become "experts" on specific areas within our homes that we are not able to do if we make our focus too broad. If we are spending our time trying to "have it all" we cannot take the time to become proficient in the areas of our homes where we need to be excelling. We can fudge it so that things keep running but we will never achieve the level of success that God has planned for us. And we will be greatly frustrated by our lack of proficiency.

The second way this is true is that we are not supposed to be "expert" in ALL areas of the home. Our giftings are given by God to complete our own husbands. And as different as we as women are, so are the men God has made us to serve. God knows the man He has created you to complete and He has uniquely gifted you to be strong where your husband will need it most. For example, in my home, my husband is very gifted with handling money and I am not. There we are a perfect match. But I can serve him within that realm by taking our food budget and making the most of it, something that he has no idea how to do. So the training that my budget-minded mom gave me was a blessing to my husband from the Lord. God knew that he wouldn't not do well planning meals or grocery shopping without my help. Some husbands may do fine here but that is my point. Each husband has areas where he is weaker and needs his wife's help to accomplish the family goals. That is why God creates each woman with one man in mind. He knows the weaknesses of each and makes them to complement each other. No man can do it all alone. Adam was not good all by himself and that is why God gave him Eve. My husband was not complete all by himself and that's why God gave him me. I would not complete another man. I complement and complete my husband.

Now, there may be areas where your husband is incomplete and you feel insufficient to complete him. This could be an area where God is looking to grow your husband, where He can mold him into the man He wants him to be. For example, we know from scripture that the man is to be the leader of his home, so if he is struggling with leading, you can know that that is an area where God is growing him. But there are areas where we need to do the growing ourselves. If you are unsure about what area you are facing, ask Him to show you. Read His word. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5

Let us strive to complete the husbands that God has given us and bless not just them, but the body of Christ and the world as well. Let us be those cities on a hill that God wants us to be!

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