Virtuous Daughters

Challenge #28

Good evening dear Girls,

I pray this week finds you doing wonderfully!

As I mentioned in the last challenge, we are going to be going through some questions that another lady had asked, which I thought were some really good questions, and questions that we have either all faced, or will face in the future.  This is why I wanted to share them with you all, in hopes that these questions, as well as answers, will richly bless your life and help you grow even more in your daily walks with your Saviour and help you to know how we as daughters, should act, think and do.

May this question and answer, richly bless you.

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“Will God/the Holy Spirit teach you or show you things ahead of what He will/has shown to your father/husband?”

 Yes, I completely believe this is possible and does happen. This has happened in my own life.  I believe God can, and often does, show you certain things through scripture, but I believe the ultimate decision lies within the father/husband.

 For example; God could show me something through scripture, and I can bring my findings up to my father. Or, I could believe that God would have me to do something, and bring that up to my father (and I am using father here, simply because I am not married, but it could as easily be worded husband, as I believe the husband and father play a pretty similar role in the lives of us women – depending on whether you are married or single). 

So here I am; I bring something up to my father.  I sincerely believe it was from God. I show my father, or tell my father what I believe God has shown me or spoken to me about. My father decides that “No, that would not be wise for you to do”. What do I do then? Do I do it anyways, because I believe it was from God and what God wanted me to do? Do I do what I believe doctrinally was correct, even though my father does not agree with my findings? Absolutely not! God has given us these precious men to guide and protect us.  Is it wrong to share things with them, and to see what their thoughts are, on a matter? Absolutely not! In fact, I believe it is wise to constantly be talking to them (if we do it in the attitude mentioned in Question #1), and seeing where they are, and whether or not we are on the same page, spiritually. This is unity and might I say, how else can we further and help them, if we aren’t even on the same page as they are?

 But, to go against them, even if we are right, is clearly wrong. Why?  We were placed under their authority for them to protect us and lead us, and *we* were commanded to obey *them*.  Not *them* obey *us*. As long as we are willing to still follow them, no matter if they agree with us or not, and are coming to them to learn from them and not to teach them, I think it is a great thing to do!

I will try to explain a little bit farther as to why I believe we are not to just to “do what we believe” but instead, “do what they believe”.

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

 We were told to submit to them, and that submission is a yielding of one’s will, to resist no longer… in other words, submission is not agreeing with something another is having us do, but we are choosing to do it, regardless as to what we feel (in other words, we disagree with them, but are doing it anyhow). This is submission. Submission is not doing something that we agree with. In order to submit, it implies it is something that we do NOT agree with.  Below is a definition for submission that the Strong’s Concordance gives:

 5226 hupeiko {hoop-i’-ko}

 from 5259 and eiko (to yield, be “weak”);; v

 AV - submit (one’s) self 1; 1

1)     To resist no longer, but to give way, yield (of combatants)

2)    To yield to authority and admonition, to submit

Now I would like to pull something else out of this verse. Let’s read this verse again.

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

You see here, it is not us that must give account for ourselves. And with this I am talking about doctrinally. We will certainly all be held accountable for our salvation, walks with God, and how we act etc. But God put the men in charge of us concerning where we go doctrinally, and we were told to follow them. Thus, if they are wrong in an area and lead the family in the wrong direction, we are then protected, because we are following our head of authority like we were commanded to. We are not to step out and do our own thing, because we believe we will be judged, if we don’t. God will judge the man for where he is/has brought his family. I don’t believe we will be held responsible for this at all. It is those God has placed over us; they will ultimately be the ones that will be asked to give account for us. But, in order for them to be able to do this, we MUST obey them and not only obey them, but follow and back them where God has and is bringing them.

There will be times that, yes, we will be in the right.  But, God does not call us women to stand up for that rightness. No, instead He calls us to sit silently back, and pray and let Him work in their lives. 

Look at the chain of authority. It is God-Man-Women-Children.  Just like we are to submit and obey the man, they are to submit and obey God, and if they do not, God will deal with them personally. We don’t have to get in the way. In fact, when we do stand up, we are getting in the way of God dealing with them, because now we are standing in God’s way. Do you see how this works?

Another example would be: If a 9 year old child comes to a parent, with something they believe, and the parent disagrees, what should they do? Do they have the right, to do it anyways? Of course not! Think of it as a two year old now.  They want to go outside, but Mom says “no”.  They may very well feel like they ought to. Now what should they do? Obey and submit, of course!  The same is for us as women. Nowhere in scripture, is the process of submission different, just because of the age difference.  The only thing that has changed is just who has to submit. God doesn’t give age ranges for obedience, He just tells us to submit and obey.

 We are protected, as long as we stay where God put us…and that is under the man.

 Let me share something from my own life and what I have done about it. There have been many, many times that I have felt God telling me something, showing me something. I have battled with what to do with that feeling. I had a choice. I could totally come out from under the protection that God has given me…my hedge and my head…or…I could sit back and follow the authority that God has placed over me, and just leave it all up to God to show them differently, if indeed, they were the ones in the wrong.

Let me share with you my choice…my decision. I decided that I would stay under God’s chain of authority; regardless as to what I felt was right or wrong, and would back that authority figure, my father.

Girls, I have been SO incredibly blessed because of this decision! I have been spared things that I now realize I was wrong in, not them. God has also shown things to my father that he was wrong in, and I had been right in. And I didn’t have to do a thing! God doesn’t need us, my sisters! That is something that is a powerful thing for us to learn. He doesn’t need us to work in our parents/husbands hearts and teach them, nor does He need us to stand up for the right, and prove to them, what is right. This job was never given to us. This job is God’s, and we need to leave the teaching up to Him.

1 Timothy 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

1 Timothy 2:12-14 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Notice here that this was not referring to the church. It was “you are not to teach or command a man” period BECAUSE, you are easily deceived, and the man is not.

Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Romans 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

God didn’t tell us to be subject unto them IF we agree! He told us to be subject (to submit) to them regardless, unless we have completely clear BLACK AND WHITE, no questions asked, ground to stand on.  Obviously, we are not to murder and things like that. Those are clear black and white things. 

But, I will also say that even if we are told to do things like these, we are not suppose to do it in a “I know better than you” attitude. We are to do so in an honoring, loving manner, explaining to them meekly why we can not obey them. So even when we do stand up for the things that God has clearly said we are to do, (and again I mean things that there is no possible way on earth, that we could be wrong in), we are to still do it in a lowly, meekly, kind of why.

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May this richly bless you, my dear girls!  Think about it…pray about it.

Yahweh bless,

Samantha