Wednesday, December 14, 2011

When a Husband Seeks the Lord

Over a decade ago, Clint told me he felt the Lord was leading him to move from a good job with a division of a global company where he had finally achieved seniority to work day shift....to work in a new place. As a wife and a mother, it frightened me. I had many questions. Clint maintained his belief it was the Lord telling him to go and left that job for the new one.

The first place started going under and laying off people within two weeks of him leaving!! Not only that, but Clint was placed in a position where he could help some of his friends find jobs as well. We have also had many ministry opportunities through this company. And, this smaller, more personal company has been a big blessing to us when we have gone through difficult things like miscarriages, deaths, floods, fires, etc. I learned a lot about trusting the Lord's work through my husband because of that experience.

When Clint is seeking the Lord on something, my goal is to not influence his decision or hinder the work of the Holy Spirit. I try to wait for dialogue and questions. When I can answer them, I do. If I can not answer them, I try to learn more so I can better help him. I give him honest, sometimes painfully honest, feedback when he is bouncing things around. When he grows quiet, I know the Holy Spirit is at work. This is the point where I have to be patient and keep in prayer. I ask the Lord to draw me to the same place as He is Clint. When Clint tells me what he has decided, I might ask a few questions, but know the decision is from the Lord. Most of the time, we are in the same place.

Husbands are fallible. It is difficult for us women to trust men who forget things and make mistakes. We live with them, see the things they do, and those things are often in our minds. "Lord, you want me to trust this Knucklehead, who just backed into the satellite dish with the RV, on something this big?" It's not easy to trust the Lord when we are looking at our husbands.

We have to keep our focus on one thing though: God is infallible and knows how to communicate His perfect will with fallible men with pure hearts and motives who are diligently seeking Him.

Titus 2:3-5 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Matthew 23:12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Clint fixed the satellite dish. :-)