The King of Kings is calling my heart to my own home.
Glorious? In its own mysterious way, yes.
It’s a kingdom of my own; it’s where my throne is, where I reign with my husband. And together, we rule under God.
It’s where I can choose peace. Where John can choose joy. Where we have control over the activities and pastimes and conversations that take place.
It’s where I’ve rolled out of bed every morning to have time alone with The Book. Where I’ve been flooded with revelation about my Biblical roles as a woman--recently, as a wife and mother. It’s where I’ve recently been saying, “Yes, Lord,” to the hard verses: submit, serve, be gentle and quiet in spirit, be modest, adorn yourself with good works.
And I have NEVER felt more purpose in my entire life.
Because those words have shed off the deceit of culture’s connotations and the abuses of man’s agendas. And I have read them afresh with Jesus in mind: submit, serve, gentle, quiet, pure...wow, all words that describe Christ. So those are GOOD attributes. Attributes that our King displayed and has called us to follow.
Yahweh created the heavens and the earth. The sea and all that is in them. His design is what keeps the galaxies in motion, what pumps blood through our bodies, and what knits a living baby inside of a mother’s womb. When he tells us how we function best, He is correct.
And he instructs mothers to “love their husbands and their children” and to be, “homemakers” (Titus 2:4).
So as my heart has been called home by the reading and believing of the scriptures, I have seen the extreme value in sweeping. In cooking, in playing, in laundry, in little lessons, in creek-side lunch dates with my baby, in rocking him to sleep, in dusting. Even in tantrum soothing attempts and nightly hangout sessions with my husband. I see purpose and fruitfulness that will have long-lasting, if not eternal affects.
The scripture keeps affirming me. As Christ-followers, everything we do has great purpose because the Bible tells us to do everything for the glory of God; everything as done unto the Lord, and not to men (Colossians 3:23). What a gift! What a gift that no matter what we are doing, at home or out in the world (as long as we are not sinning of course), we have purpose!
I was never really bothered by the Biblical instruction to women that says, “submit to your own husband,” or when we are told that a “gentle and quiet spirit” is of great worth to God (Ephesians 5:22, 1 Peter 3:4). I understood that even if submitting and having a quiet spirit had the connotation of being less-than, that God had a plan in these instructions for women. But recently it hit me: There is nothing less-than about being submissive, or gentle, or serving, or having a quiet spirit, or managing your home. Jesus Christ lived a life of complete submission to God. He described Himself as “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). He said, “I did not come to be served but to serve” (Matthew 20:28). How dare I think that submitting is below me when it is what Jesus did with His whole life on Earth! I’ve not understood! My husband is called to submit to God and to LAY HIS LIFE DOWN FOR ME AS CHRIST DID THE CHURCH, and I am called to submit to him (Ephesians 5). Honestly, it sounds like the man got the harder end of that deal.
To be offended about being instructed to be a homemaker? Could there be anything more significant than raising humans well? With intention and purpose? Is there a greater way to change the world for the better than loving the heck out of our children? What if we raised our boys to become real men? What if we raised our girls to know how powerful they are, when they are submitted to Christ? What if my children watch the purpose and joy and peace I receive as I sit in God’s presence every morning and depend on Him throughout the day?
I cannot show my children what a self-made woman looks like--some lady who picks herself up by her American boot-straps and acquires all the fame and money and confidence a woman could dream of. But I can show them the incredible beauty of a life of dependency; a life submitted to God and full of His provision. I can show them peace in a situation that shouldn’t have any. I can show them joy in enduring trials. I can show them hope, when most of the world is frozen in terror. They will watch me have purpose, as I change a diaper or sweep the kitchen floor.
Because Christ said I can do it unto Him.
Because I submit to Him.
Because the joy of the Lord is my strength. Because he said “come to me all you who are weary and heavy-burdened and I will give you rest” (Mathew 11:28). Because He took the burdens of this world and overcame them. Because he bore the weight of my sin, and the sin of my children, and the sin of the whole world and it killed him. And then he overcame all that sin and death when He rose again. I have no lasting burden. I have purpose today and purpose forever. I have Christ in me.
What if I could show my children that?
What if I smile when I’m told to “love my children?” What if I smile when I see my less-than-Hollywood body because my breasts were made to nurture my babies and they do their job well? What if I smile as I fold that last load of laundry and put it away because I just made my home that much more peaceful? What if I leave the laundry on the floor for the day because I was playing hide-and-seek again? Or maybe it’s because the kid wouldn’t take his darn nap? Either way, the laundry is there but my kid’s love tank is full and I smile because this is what matters--my submission to Christ as He blesses my obedience by the reciprocated smile on Josiah’s chubby face.
Mothers, I want you to see your power! Could there be anything more glorious than living confidently in the roles that God has given you? Could your body be more beautiful than when it is functioning exactly as God designed it to? Could you make more of a difference outside of His will? Could you be any more powerful than you are when you are growing a human inside of you? Laying the foundation of their literal brain? Raising children that have the potential to destroy the kingdom of darkness as they love others the way you loved them? Do you see the way your smile affects your husband? How you can make him stand a little taller with your words of affirmation? Do you see your worth within your own four walls? Incalculable, mother. Your worth, in your home, to the family God gave you, is irreplaceable.
Lastly, and always most importantly, there’s grace.
We will mess up. We will leave their love-tanks empty some days. Some days we will create chaos instead of peace. But, as child-development studies have proven, children are resilient. God made them that way. Because he cares about us moms: “He will gently lead those who are with young” (Isaiah 40:11).
When I started my blog, I wrote a little subtitle on the home page, “seeking to be who God created me to be as mother, wife…” Well a couple weeks ago. I woke up to a whisper. “Submit to God. You are already who He created you to be.”
I don’t hear “whispers” very often. I think only two other times in my life. But isn’t that beautiful?
“Submit”--what a beautiful word.
I’m already a nurturer, a woman who can make peace in her home, a woman who can bring life into this world and nurse babies and raise children. But I can’t do it alone. I couldn’t bear them without my husband. I couldn’t nurse them without the support of my sister and the lactation consultants. I couldn’t raise them without the “village” of help I have. And I couldn’t do any of it well without utter dependency, day in and day out like the breath in my lungs, on God.
Mothers, rise up! You are exalted in your servant-hood. Submit to God and reign in your home. “Submission” is a beautiful word because it is the state in which Christ lived here on Earth. And following His example, with His power, is what Christianity is all about.