A Great Mystery

Today I am feeling brave.  Actually, maybe ferocious is a better word for what is stirring within me.  See, I have believed a lie.  And maybe you have too.   Maybe you’ve been fed this lie so long it has become embedded in the fabric of your thinking.  Today is a day of deconstruction.  The lie that I’ve believed is that “it is a more favored position to be a man than a woman.'' They get to do all the cool stuff, God likes them better and we are relegated to a life of service and submission.  We are stuck and well, we better just get used to it and figure out a way to find joy in it.  After all, who are we to say to the potter, “Why have you made me this way?”

Maybe you don’t struggle with thoughts like these.  If you’re already arguing with me, you should probably stop reading now and save yourself some time.  Or perhaps, these thoughts lie deep within your subconscious mind; wreaking havoc on your body and emotions. Or you could have a healthy grasp on your womanhood and have embraced your role as a woman and understood that you equally bear the image of our God and King.  Whatever the case may be, I want to boldly address what I see to be a real problem in the body of Christ. 

Within marriage lies a great mystery. Ephesians 5:29-33 states, “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord and the church: For we are a member of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.   Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband”.

When we come to fully understand our status as Image Bearers and even more importantly our union with Christ as individuals, perhaps then can our marriages be transformed to fully reflect what the Father intended.  We are called to co-reign with our husbands, but first we are called to co-reign with Christ.  These verses start with a statement that no man ever hated his own flesh, but today we are taught to hate our humanity.  God never intended for his children to hate what He has made.  

I’ve been married for 27 plus years.  Three years ago, we moved to a town called Union.  I declared that “Unity in Union” would be ours.  Through many tears, disappointments and searching, I discovered that it was more important to the Lord to bring unity within me first.  It was on His agenda to transform me and my thinking about my womanhood opposed to “upgrading my marriage”. Not until I accepted and embraced myself wholly as an Image Bearer would I be able to celebrate and reverence the gift that God has given me in my husband.  No more will I pray for him to be changed, but I will rest in and trust that as the Lord transforms me, gives me courage and causes me to understand the great help that I bring to the table, will my marriage begin to reflect the Great Mystery Paul speaks of in his epistle. 

So, I challenge you. What lies have you believed about your role as a woman or yourself for that matter.  The Bible teaches us that we are amazing in so many ways and each of us reflect an aspect of God that NO ONE else can.  Your passions, hopes and dreams matter.  Even your preferences and dislikes are important to Him. They are no MISTAKE.  You are first united to Christ, then to your husband.  Listen to the Father’s affirmation of your identity as one made in His likeness.  Email me at allonthespectrum@gmail.com for a list of some things He says about you!