The complexity of our LORD...

It has been quite a week. I truly miss blogging after being away for a week or longer. There is something therapeutic about it. I would not call myself a writer, and yet I enjoy journaling and sharing my heart through the type.

So, the world, as usual, has never ceased to be eventful, while I'm just trying to finish up another semester. I'm not a very politically-involved person. Perhaps, it is one of my great faults. Most times, I choose to be ignorant of what is happening in the world of politics because it frustrates and grieves me. I may be a conservative at heart, but it's not how I define myself or what I'm most passionate to preserve. I have seen the politics of this world eat away at souls and embitter those who are children of God. The fact that more Christians are caught up in politics than the Word of God is a sad reality. While I should be more well informed than I am, I decided awhile ago that I was to only be concerned about ONE thing and that is my LORD, His character, and His living Word. I have only one life to live and I desire to spend it more concerned about His kingdom than this earthly one. He is the one who makes leaders to rise or to fall and none can stay His hand when He purposes to do His will. He works through the prayers of His saints to triumph over evil and bring His glory and kingdom on earth. Thank God for the freedom and rights of this country, but if they were ever taken from us, may it only be so that we might find Christ the highest treasure through the trials and the souls of many be brought to Him. I'm not particularly pro-America and, yet, in another sense, I am. But that's a topic for another day.

In the many events that occurred this past week, there was one that got me thinking - the death of Osama Bin Laden. It seems pretty shrouded in mystery, as usual. Whether Osama died years ago, died this past week, or this is just some huge conspiracy, I don't care enough to discuss it. Rather, I care to know God's heart in the death of the wicked, whoever they may be. Many times, I find that Christians take only one side (not that they're wrong, but that there's so much more to it than one might think). We are to love our enemies. We are not to rejoice in the death of the wicked. It's a humbling, grieving reality. It reminds us that we have a God who is to be feared. It reminds us that everyday, regardless if they are killers or orphaned children, there are thousands of souls slipping into hell. It reminds us that there are souls in desperate need of a Savior and to know the Truth.

Dr. Voddie Baucham posted this article, The Death of Osama bin Laden: What Kind of Justice Has Been Done?, on his Facebook page this past week, including these words:

Wonderful article to ponder in a culture that celebrates both Rob Bell (who thinks it's wrong for God's justice to be vindicated in Hell) and the killing of Osama Bin Ladin. And no, I'm not saying it was wrong to kill Bin Ladin; I'm saying it's hypocritical for a culture that increasingly deems itself too "sophisticated" for to death penalty (or Hell) to rejoice when someone takes a bullet through the head.

Baucham's comments jumped out at me! It's true. There are many rejoicing in the death of Osama, and other such men like him, and, yet, could it be that the many who are rejoicing might be those who hold fast to the message of universalism because they want to believe that their own story is a happily-ever-after forever? I'll be honest: Rob Bell stepped out of historic Christianity the moment he started preaching universalism more boldly, which was long before he wrote his now controversial book, Love Wins.

Rob Bell wrote, "hell is not forever, and love, in the end, wins and all will be reconciled to God.

This is what the emergent church is passionately embracing.

I could wish that this were true, Rob, if only the LORD declared it to be True. But I will not wish for something that is against my LORD's Word because He is the King of kings. He alone is the Supreme Authority. He justifies and He condemns and His judgement does not negate His divine Love. His Love does win, but not in the finite, humanistic way that our minds can only perceive.

The hard truth is that there is a Hell, which is an eternal torment, and many are falling away who will never know the eternal joy of being with their Creator. Should not this truth shut our mouths, humble our hearts, and drive us to our knees in deep groaning and prayer? Should not this truth make us weep?

Rob Bell, the emergent church, and whoever enjoy the kind of teaching for their 'itching ears' will not feel this urgency because the corrupted truth that they hold to is merely just a rebellion against God's holy Word and another Lie of the Enemy.

The lie that there is no eternal torment in hell is what will hinder the spread of the true Gospel. Why would there be any urgent need to declare the Gospel and fight and strive for the dying souls of this world if, in the end, every single soul will be reconciled to God? I'm saddened and upset about the Universalism message because it strips away from the power and glory of the Gospel! It strips away from the work of the Cross, the death of our Savior! We don't need Christ or His work on the Cross if we're all going to inevitably be saved! How do these lies not GRIEVE US? Yes, they may sound SO good. They may sound SO right. But we have to remember the way that the Serpent tempted Eve in the garden. The deception seems so beautiful and pleasing....but how awful and tormenting is the fruit of it!

To be sure, we are living in the times that Paul wrote of:

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ~ 2 Tim 4:3-4

I am compelled to share these words by John Piper on Bin Laden's death and the heart of God in all of this. I thank my God for men who uphold the authority of the Word and seek to uphold ALL the texts of Scripture rather than canceling some to bring out others. Holy Father, continue to preserve Your Word!

Is God Glad Osama Bin Laden's Dead?

May 2, 2011 | by: John Piper

God’s emotions are complex—like yours, only a million times more. Right now, your emotions about bin Laden are not simple, i.e. not single. There are several, and they intermingle. That is a good thing. You are God-like.

In response to Osama bin Laden’s death, quite a few tweets and blogs have cited the biblical truth that “God does not delight in the death of the wicked.” That is true.

It is also true that God does delight in the death of the wicked. There are things about every death that God approves in themselves and things about every death that God disapproves in themselves.

Is God Double-Minded?

This is not double talk. All thoughtful people make such distinctions. For example, if my daughter asks me if I like a movie, I might say yes or no to the same movie. Why? Because a movie can be assessed for its 1) acting, 2) plot, 3) cinematography, 4) nudity, 5) profanity, 6) suspense, 7) complexity, 8) faithfulness to the source, 9) reverence for God, 10) accurate picture of human nature, etc., etc., etc.

So my answer is almost always “yes, in some ways, and no in other ways.” But sometimes I will simply say yes, and sometimes no, because of extenuating circumstances.

Here is why I say God approves and disapproves the death of Osama bin Laden:

In one sense, human death is not God’s pleasure:

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? . . . For I do not pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live. (Ezekiel 18:23, 32).

In another sense, the death and judgment of the unrepentant is God’s pleasure:

Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself.(Ezekiel 5:13]

[Wisdom calls out:] Because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you.(Proverbs 1:25–26)

Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her! (Revelation 18:20)

As the Lord took delight in doing you good . . . so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. (Deuteronomy 28:63)

We should not cancel out any of these passages but think our way through to how they can all be true.

God is Not Malicious or Bloodthirsty

My suggestion is that the death and misery of the unrepentant is in and of itself not a pleasure to God. God is not a sadist. He is not malicious or bloodthirsty. The death and suffering considered for itself alone is not his delight.

Rather, when a rebellious, wicked, unbelieving person is judged, what God has pleasure in is the exaltation of truth and righteousness, and the vindication of his own honor and glory.

When Moses warns Israel that the Lord will take pleasure in bringing ruin upon them and destroying them if they do not repent (Deuteronomy 28:63), he means that those who have rebelled against the Lord and moved beyond repentance will not be able to gloat that they have made the Almighty miserable.

God is not defeated in the triumphs of his righteous judgment. Quite the contrary. Moses says that when they are judged they will unwittingly provide an occasion for God to rejoice in the demonstration of his justice and his power and the infinite worth of his glory (see alsoRomans 9:22–23).

A Warning

Let this be a warning to us: God is not mocked. He is not trapped or cornered or coerced. Even on the way to Calvary he had legions of angels at his disposal: “No one takes my life from me; I lay it down of my own accord”—of his own good pleasure, for the joy that was set before him.

At the one point in the history of the universe where God looked trapped, he was in charge, doing precisely what he pleased—dying to justify the ungodly like you and me.

(Adapted from The Pleasures of God, pp. 66-74.)

And I end in my post with this final verse. Let us seek to be humbled by these words....

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. ~ Romans 11:22

Visionary Monday: Of First Importance

An old writer well said, “A family without prayer is like a house without a roof, open and exposed to all the storms of Heaven.” All our domestic comforts and temporal mercies issue from the loving-kindness of the Lord, and the best we can do in return is to gratefully acknowledge, together, His goodness to us as a family. Excuses against the discharge of this sacred duty are idle and worthless. Of what avail will it be when we render an account to God for the stewardship of our families to say that we had not time available, working hard from morn till eve? The more pressing be our temporal duties, the greater our need of seeking spiritual succor. Nor may any Christian plead that he is not qualified for such a work: gifts and talents are developed by use not neglect. ~ Arthur Pink

Blessed be God,

because he has not rejected my prayer

or removed his steadfast love from me!

~ Psalm 66:20

...in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ~ Phil 4:6

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

~ Col 4:2

"wimpy theology makes wimpy women"

I love what this photo captures. It is earthy and real, yet incredibly radiant! It shows the joyful heart of Christ through a young woman wholly devoted to her LORD! There is a divine glow to this kind of womanhood, and Miss Kate is filled with it.

I was reflecting on womanhood earlier this afternoon and I recalled a sermon that John Piper had preached on this topic. I remembered his bold assumption that wimpy theology makes wimpy women. This is an ancient truth! True, Biblical womanhood has always been under attack since the creation of mankind. However, in our modern day, it is being stripped of its strength even by the Christian industry, which is probably the saddest and most frustrating reality of all! This stripping is very subtle, but it's present and powerful because it is causing women to draw their eyes more to themselves (their needs, wants, "self-esteem" messages, etc) than to the glory of God, His purpose for the universe, history, and our lives.

John Piper began his message with some powerful examples of women committed not to self, but to the glory of their King. I just included my favorite passages from this sermon, but I would encourage all to read/listen to the full thing from the link that I posted below. I think he does a wonderful job at drawing all of this out from Scripture in his sermon notes.

Marie Durant

The opposite of a wimpy woman is not a brash, pushy, loud, controlling, sassy, uppity, arrogant Amazon. The opposite of a wimpy woman is 14-year-old Marie Durant, a French Christian in the 17th century who was arrested for being a Protestant and told she could be released if she said one phrase: “I abjure.” Instead, wrote on the wall of her cell, “Resist,” and stayed there 38 years until she died, doing just that (Karl Olsson, Passion, [New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963], 116–117).

Gladys and Esther Staines

The opposite of a wimpy woman is Gladys Staines who in 1999, after serving with her husband Graham in India for three decades learned that he and their two sons, Phillip (10) and Timothy (6), had been set on fire and burned alive by the very people they had served for 34 years, said, “I have only one message for the people of India. I’m not bitter. Neither am I angry. Let us burn hatred and spread the flame of Christ’s love.”

The opposite of a wimpy woman is her 13-year-old daughter Esther (rightly named!) who said, when asked how she felt about her father’s murder, “I praise the Lord that He found my father worthy to die for Him.”

Krista and Vicki

The opposite of a wimpy woman is Krista and Vicki who between them have had over 65 surgeries because of so-called birth defects, Apert Syndrome and Hypertelorism, and who testify today through huge challenges, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well”; and this: “Even though my life has been difficult, I know that God loves me and created me just the way I am. He has taught me to persevere and to trust Him more than anything.”

Joni Eareckson Tada

The opposite of a wimpy woman is Joni Eareckson Tada who has spent the last 41 years in a wheel chair, and prays, “Oh, thank you, thank you for this wheel chair! By tasting hell in this life, I’ve been driven to think seriously about what faces me in the next. This paralysis is my greatest mercy” (Christianity Today, January, 2004, 50).

Suzie

The opposite of a wimpy woman is Suzie who lost her husband four years ago at age 59, found breast cancer three months later, then lost her mom and writes, “Now I see that I have been crying for the wrong kind of help. I now see, that my worst suffering is my sin—my sin of self-centeredness and self-pity. . . . I know that with His grace, his lovingkindess, and his merciful help, my thoughts can be reformed and my life conformed to be more like His Son.”

Wimpy theology makes wimpy women. That’s my assumption that I bring to this evening. Wimpy theology simply does not give a woman a God that is big enough, strong enough, wise enough, and good enough to handle the realities of life in away that magnifies the infinite worth of Jesus Christ. Wimpy theology is plagued by woman-centeredness and man-centeredness. Wimpy theology doesn’t have the granite foundation of God’s sovereignty or the solid steel structure of a great God-centered purpose for all things.

God’s ultimate purpose for the universe and for all of history and for your life is to display the glory of Christ in its highest expression, namely, in his dying to make a rebellious people his everlasting and supremely happy bride.

God has created man as male and female because there are aspects of Christ’s glory which would not be known if they were not reflected in the complementary differences of manhood and womanhood. Therefore, true womanhood is a distinctive calling of God to display the glory of his Son in ways that would not be displayed if there were no womanhood.

Married womanhood has its unique potential for magnifying Christ that single womanhood does not have. Single womanhood has its unique potential for magnifying Christ which married womanhood does not have.

So whether you marry or remain single, do not settle for a wimpy theology. It is beneath you. God is too great. Christ is too glorious. True womanhood is too strategic. Don’t waste it. Your womanhood—your true womanhood—was made for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Excerpts from The Ultimate Meaning of True Womanhood

To praise You forever...

A musician's random musings upon some weighty reflections. Sometimes, we're apt to burst.

To praise You forever

A weight to bear;

To sing Your affections

A tension, divided.

In fading fervor,

And straying fancies,

Still, this ache,

Remains.

Eternity's light

Is as a devouring flame,

An ever abounding work,

To place Thy Spirit

At the root

Of every pursuit.

Love is not to burn,

Though, in heat it delights.

No, love prospers in

Submission.

It deepens in

The silence.

It matures in

Affliction.

To praise You forever

Fruit of broken ground;

To sing Your affections

From refined devotion.

In the quiet,

Through the waves,

Now, Thy love,

Ever-present, upheld,

Flourishes within my heart.

By, yours truly, Spring 2011.

I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ~ Psalm 34:1

By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. ~ Psalm 42:8

Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. ~ Psalm 145:2

I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. ~ Psalm 146:2

Friday Reflections ~ Excerpts

I told myself, "No more. Wait awhile." But, I cannot convince myself to stop reading missionary biographies and accounts for too long. Besides, it has been more than several months since last I picked one up.

The selection? The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson.

Oh my...upon reading the first chapter, the excitement washed over me again! Now, these are the stories that I love to hear - stories where the Spirit of the Lord is triumphant in the darkest of places! David Wilkerson records a moving account of the Lord's particular call on his life, during his early years as a husband and father, to reach the teenagers on the streets of New York. These were teenagers involved in violent, fighting gangs, homosexual gangs, Lesbian gangs, sadist gangs, and are all enslaved to pornography, heroin, various narcotics, obscene sexual acts, prostitution, etc.

I'm not yet done with this book, but I'm savoring every chapter of this incredibly miraculous story that occurred on the streets of New York about 50 years ago.

"Angelo," I said to him one day as were walking down a Harlem street together, "what would you say was the greatest problem have in this city?"

"Lonesomeness," said Angelo quickly.

It was a strange answer; lonesomeness in a city of eight million people. But Angelo said the feeling came because nobody love you, and that all of his friends in the gangs were basically very lonely boys. The more I came to know New York the more I grew certain that Angelo was right.

(pg 48)

Strangest of all, they were afraid that something...might make them cry. Bit by bit I came to realize the horror these young people have of tears.

What is it about tears that should be so terrifying? I asked them again and again, and each time got the impression that tears to them were a sign of softness, of weakness and childishness in a harsh world where only the tough survive. Yet I knew from my work in the church how important a role tears play in making a man whole. I think I could almost put it down as a rule that the touch of God is marked by tears. When finally we let the Holy Spirit into our innermost sanctuary, the reaction is to cry. I have seen it happen again and again. Deep soul-shaking tears, weeping rather than crying. It comes when that last barrier is down and you surrender yourself to health and to wholeness.

And when it does come, it ushers forth such a new personality that, from the days of Christ on, the experience has been spoken of as a birth. "You must be born again," said Jesus. And the paradox is this: at the heart of this newborn personality is joy; yet the joy is ushered in by tears.

What instinct was it that told these boys and girls they might have to cry if they came into contact with God? They had their own way of expressing this fear, of course. I paid return visits to the gangs I had met, the Rebels and the GGI's, the Chaplains and the Mau Maus, inviting them to the rally, and everywhere it was the same. "You're not going to bug me, preacher. You're not going to get me bawling."

Everywhere the same fear of the unknown, the same clinging to the familiar no matter how wretched, the same resistance to change.

(pg 67-68)

The enemy lurked in the social conditions that make up the slums of New York, ready to grab lonesome and love-starved boys. He held out easy promises of security and freedom, of happiness and of retribution. He called his promises by innocent names: Clubs (not murderous gangs); Pot (not narcotics); Fish-Jumps (not an anger-filled, unsatisfying sex stimulation); and Jitterbugging (not a desperate fight to death). He built in his victims personalities that were almost impossible to reach. He threw around these boys a walk of thick, protective hardness; he made them proud of being hard.

Against his strength, I considered my own weakness. I had none of the usual weapons. I had no experience. I had no money. I had no organizations backing me. I was afraid of the fight.

...Perhaps there was a curious paradox in my lack of strength. Perhaps in this very weakness lay a kind of power, because I knew absolutely that I could not depend upon myself....perhaps God would choose just such a palpably ill-equipped person as I, so that the work from the very start would depend on Him alone. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."

(pg 52, 54)

God’s Love: Blocked, Then Accepted

LOVE (III)
by George Herbert

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

May His love triumph us in this way.

Visionary Monday ~ A Glimpse

I have felt inspired to chronicle bits from my journey as a stay-at-home daughter. While I hope these evidences of God's grace in my life serve as encouragement for others, my primary reason for wanting to journal these things is to remind myself of the LORD's calling on my life. These posts will serve more to direct my thoughts and heart towards His divine and faithful purposes in my life. I love searching for the beautiful traces of His fingerprints in what I once, in years past, labeled as the 'monotonous drone of every day life.' As a die-hard idealist and dreamer, I once rejected the home as training ground for the LORD's work in my soul and foolishly spent myself upon other pursuits. But the LORD in His mercy saved me from my path of self-destruction and clearly revealed Himself to me in such a way as I shall never forget! And, in that revelation, He granted me such a clearness of direction as to His specific plan for me. In His answer, I found a peace that completely washed away all my questions. He called me to return home to my family (not just in body like so many times before, but in heart!). So, here's a glimpse into what I have been learning and remembering at home as of late...

Calvary Love

Yesterday, during the service at the church that my family and I go to (Heritage of Faith Family Church), one of the elders gave a sermon on Colossians 4 and spoke specifically on the LORD's purpose and vision for the family. He discussed the different, but complementary roles of each member of the family and gave a very rich, detailed picture of family life. However, there were specific selections from it that I was challenged by. These Biblical principles have been re-occurring themes in my life, and so they win a special emphasis for this post.

1) When your family is ministered to, then you will be fulfilled.

2) While a spirit of independence remain in the home, unity cannot be maintained.

3) Selflessness is what makes a family work.

Almost immediately, I was reminded of Amy Carmichael's "if's."

If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting, “Who made thee to differ? And what has thou that thou has not received?” then I know nothing of Calvary love

If I can easily discuss the shortcomings and the sins of any; if I can speak in a casual way even of a child’s misdoings, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I find myself half-carelessly taking lapses for granted, “Oh, that’s what they always do,” “Oh, of course she talks like that, he acts like that,” then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If, in dealing with one who does not respond, I weary of the strain, and slip from under the burden, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I have not the patience of my Saviour with souls who grow slowly; if I know little of travail (a sharp and painful thing) till Christ be fully formed in them, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. *For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water however suddenly jolted.

If by doing some work which the undiscerning consider “not spiritual work” I can best help others, and I inwardly revel, thinking it is the spiritual for which I crave, when in truth it is the interesting and exciting, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If monotony tries me, and I cannot stand drudgery; if stupid people fret me and the little ruffles set me on edge; if I make much of the trifles of life, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I am inconsiderate about the comfort of others, or their feelings, or even of their little weaknesses; if I am careless about their little hurts and miss opportunities to smooth their way; if I make the sweet running of household wheels more difficult to accomplish, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If interruptions annoy me, and private cares make me impatient; if I shadow the souls about me because I myself am shadowed, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it, because the spirit of discernment is not in me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If my interest in the work of others is cool; if I think in terms of my own special work; if the burdens of others are not my burdens too, and their joy’s mine, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I avoid being “ploughed under,” with all that such ploughing entails of rough handling, isolation, uncongenial situations, strange tests, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

...the list could continue on and on.

How often it is that I miss opportunities to further minister to my family because of that spirit of independence. While I may be fully present at home, my heart and mind often drift elsewhere. Not committed, focussed, or devoted to my family. Then, that spirit of independence becomes a spirit of discontentment. I become tired or weary of the daily hum of life, or disappointed by those around me, rather than increasing in the affections of Christ. I often have thought to myself, "Oh, I just don't love my Jesus enough! If I loved Him more, I would be so focussed on Him that my heart would be pouring itself out in love for others." While this may be true to an extent, I have been convicted that one can love Jesus very much and yet still be acting independently of Him because they have not submitted to His full reign. The reason why I am not always and fully available to minister to my family is due to the fact that I am not, first and foremost, always and fully available to my King. Yes, the spiritual disciplines of daily prayer and reading/meditation of the Word are spiritual disciplines that I live upon; however, am I communing with my LORD throughout the day as I tend to chores, running errands, projects, school, et? Or, am I subject to every stray thought and emotion of mine, and, on stressful days, walking through the events of the day in a fluster? So often it has felt more like the latter.

Gentle & Quiet Spirit

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. ~ 1 Peter 3:3-6

I never realized until earlier today, as I was thinking over this passage, the connection between a gentle and quiet heart hoping God and submitting to their husbands. While this verse refers to Sarah's submission to Abraham, I believe there is something even more significant to be said for the submission of a woman's heart to her soul's first Love.

A young and immature love is prone to act upon emotions and thoughts rather than from a broken will and a heart that is fully ruled by the One who holds all its affections. Wife, mother, and author, Nancy Wilson, paints an accurate picture of the 1 Peter 3 woman.

"Some people mistakenly think that a gentle and quiet spirit is displayed when a woman never speaks. This has concerned some of the outgoing personalities because they don't know how to be a silent lump. This is merely looking at externals. Certainly sometimes a quiet spirit will be exhibited by silence, but not always. And a quiet person can be all worked up on the inside. This is missing the point. A heart that is resting in the faithfulness of God is gentle and quiet; it is not stirred up with worry and anxiety. This gentle and quiet spirit is a calm, peaceful spirit. It is a tame spirit, a gentled spirit. I have often compared this kind of spirit to a glassy lake, not turbulent or troubled, but hardly showing a ripple. In contrast, the anxious spirit is like a stormy sea with whitecaps whipping along the shore. This of course brings to mind our Lord calming the troubled Sea of Galilee. Likewise, He can calm our troubled spirits when we look to Him."

To become that glassy lake that is as still underneath as it is on the surface, takes daily dying.

To Wait. To Hope.

We are not ignorant of the straying thoughts and emotions that dwell within us moment by moment. We are exhorted to take them captive. We are not unable to dispel that cloud of frustration or discontentment. We're told to "give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thess 5:18). We are not to be weighed down by the heaviness of unexpected circumstances or difficulties within our family relationships. We are called to cast off all such burdens onto Him (Psalm 55:22). Christ prayed for us, "Father, sanctify them in Thy truth; Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17). We have access into the transforming work of His truth by His Spirit. The Word of God does not return void, nor does He ever lie (Num 23:19). For He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it (1 Thess 5:24).

Maybe it feels like the Word of God isn't practical enough for a particular situation or issue. Maybe it doesn't always bring immediate results. But the Word is not based upon what we're feeling or wanting. Just allow yourself to meditate on His Word and allow the Spirit to minister to you throughout your day.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! ~ Psalm 105:4

"For this is how holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves..." The key word there is hope. Hoping implies that there is a process of waiting daily before Him. Hoping implies that one is seeking Him continually.

I write all this to conclude that the strength of a family is determined by the level of each member's givenness to the LORD and to each other. This is essential to a completeness of unity and love amongst each family member. May we ever seek to grasp the fullness of this vision for the family!