Men are GREAT! However, in times of disaster…..like losing a job, a sick child or wife, or parent….the heart of a man is truly challenged. Not being an ‘expert’ on men, I just want to share some insights the Lord gave me some time ago.
A friend asked me to go and pray for a friend of hers (that I did not know), who was very ill with cancer. At her home during prayer, the Holy Spirit told me to tell her to forgive her husband. It seemed he acted as though she was not sick. He would take her grocery shopping, etc. But refused to take her to the doctor or get her medications. She had been very active in prison ministry, by mail….a woman of God….who could not understand her husband or his attitude.
First, many women feel a ‘call’ in their heart to minister in some area, and their husbands do not. Their husbands support them and go on in their life, just appreciating their wives activities. Their reward with the Father is just as great as their wife. They are doing what God wants them to do. So if you are a wife who is nagging or praying for your husband to do more, be more in the church….stop it! Just see them…as God does…..as men of God, encouraging and praying that God’s Will, not yours, be done in their life……and pray for the thing that interests them, like golf, tennis, cars, etc. that God will be in those things with them.
Second, I asked the Lord, what He meant for her to forgive her husband. The Holy Spirit told me that her husband could not cope with her illness and ‘denial’ was his ‘out.’ Some men even leave their wives when disaster strikes because they cannot face them and the situation.
When I got home, I asked the Lord to explain. The Holy Spirit just loves to explain and talk about His Word in the Bible, or something like this situation. “Men are given in their DNA, a desire to provide, protect and be priest of the home.”
When anything happens that they cannot do that (and they are not aware of this) they can react in many ways…..denial, anger, withdrawal. It is very painful for them, especially since they think it is just the situation and do not understand the spiritual side. Feelings of failure, hopelessness, depression and even thoughts of suicide can take over.
Losing a job is condemning even when the economy is good. When it may involve something like losing a home, car or other family assets, it can be overwhelming. Only when we know, as men and women, who we are in Christ Jesus can we pull on God for the strength to go though the dark times.
Only as a man turns his needs to the Father, relys on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, can he transfer that position of provider, protector and priest to Them, and trust for a turning point, a break in the situation. It is the man’s job when he can do it (with help, reliance and guidance from Holy Spirit), but it then becomes THEIR job, when he can’t.
In times of disaster, a man can be the Hero in the family, just by stiring himself up in the Word with things like:
“There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walknot after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” “Greater is He in me, than He who is in the world.” “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called for His purpose.” And, there are many more….
No matter what happens, the important thing is that your family stay together….that you have each other. And, the husband and father can make the family strong enough to endure, because of his stand, and his trust in God. We are in a war, and in war there are causalities….but for those who love Jesus it is a win-win situation because we receive eternal life and the Glory of God (His Grace–unmerited favor) can shine in us, at the worst of times.
It is not God trying or testing us……the thief comes to kill, rob and destroy……(what is there about that scripture we don’t understand?). It is evil in the world, the devil, and bad decisions that bring these trials–even if we didn’t make those decisions. The devil is evil; God is good….we must hang on to what is good….spiritual blessings in the worst of times! Men (as women) can transfer their hurt, humiliation and discouragement to the Lord; surrender those feelings to Him, and actually choose LIFE, choose to go on, and help theirr family to do the same. As a friend of mine used to say, “God has strong shoulders.”
AND, MEN, WE LOVE AND APPRECIATE YOU IN ALL SITUATIONS…..THANK YOU, LORD, FOR THE MEN IN OUR LIVES!
Pressing in and pressing on….