by Virginia Wallace
I said yes. Because it seemed like the right thing to do. I am not the leader-type – but I am also not the type that likes to be told how to raise my kids – or how I am not raising my kids – or respecting my husband, or whatever the thing is that everyone else thinks that I should do.
This is why I said ‘yes.’ Because I thought it was what I was supposed to do – even though my first thought was – NO – this is not what I do. In fact, going to China with my husband is not what I do, not when it means leaving my children behind. God made me a woman. This much is obvious. God also made me a wife – this too is quite clear. He also made me a mother. And here I want to stop. This seems like it should be enough for me to handle. And if I think about it and be realistic – this is all I can handle – though I can’t even handle this on my own.
So, why am I HERE? Because God created us to be more than this. He created us to need each other – to bear one another’s burdens, to build up one another towards faith and good works – to show forth his glory to all men. To show hospitality to the stranger, to care for those afflicted – to wash the feet of the saints.
1 Timothy 5:9-10 gives us good insight in this way, to show us what we should have been. It’s kind of a look backward:
“Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, having a reputation for good works, if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, has devoted herself to every good work.”
This is what we are called to be now:
a wife, known for good works
a mother, opening her home to strangers
a servant, caring for those in need.
What does this look like right now? Will it look different next year? When my youngest is five?
Yes. It will look differently at each stage or season of your life. If you have young children and are trying to just figure out how to get enough sleep much less show hospitality or do good works, or care for the less fortunate – this can look overwhelming!
But think about it in less grand terms:
Hospitality (which means ‘love of strangers’): you take your little ones to the playground – then meet someone and invite them to come in your home for a meal or snack – or tea!
Good works: I offer to babysit (which is actually like a playdate for my kids) while a friend runs to get groceries/run an errand. I make double the amount of supper to give a friend a meal on a rough day.
Washed the feet of the saints? This could mean a nice pedicure – or if you think about the principle behind this practice, it could mean something as simple as folding her clean laundry while you chat, or it could mean working to love her as she likes to be loved (speaking in a way that shows you care about her – not yourself [and giving a pedicure is not out of the question!!]).
Caring for the Afflicted: visiting those in the hospital, cleaning the bathroom for someone who has just had a baby. Sometimes this may mean letting your neighbor’s kids into your home and ministering to them – showing them what a family of God looks like.
Think of Proverbs 31. This woman was not just taking care of her own husband and kids. She had servants and they had kids (husbands), there were people that she looked after because it was her responsibility. She didn’t do everything herself – she managed everything! What did her children learn from this? Did they learn how to serve and love others? Did they practice this?
This woman is a glory to her husband – she is his GLORY!
She was his glory because of her heart attitude while she was his wife, while she mothered his children, while she gave hospitality, while she washed the feet of the saints, while she cared for the afflicted.
What is your heart attitude? Whose glory are you seeking?
We are Christ’s bride – and so must seek to be HIS Glory – He has washed and cleansed us – He has clothed us with His own beautiful Glory – and we shine!
Ezekiel 16 talks about God’s amazing mercy to His unfaithful bride – how she was an unwanted babe, left on the hillside to die – her cord was not even cut, she was not cleaned, nor loved.
But God said to her, Live! And he made her flourish and grow into a young woman – she became his bride. He clothed her in fine linen and jewels. She ate only the best food, she grew beautiful. Verse 14 says, “And your renown went among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the LORD.”
God’s glory – she was His Glory.
But she wanted her own glory, her own pleasure, her own renown. The rest of the chapter tells in great detail of her faithlessness – how she sought after any and all other men (idols) – how she was a princess – and now was a porn star.
We cannot read this chapter and not be utterly disgusted with how awful our sin is to God, and yet how merciful He is when we repent and seek His Glory – and not our own.
We are glory seekers. But we are flawed by the effects of sin and we seek our own glory instead of God’s.
We need to ask the question: Whose glory am I seeking?
One way I find helpful is: How am I loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength right now? How am I loving my neighbor as myself right now?
[This talk was given to a women’s gathering in East Asia in the fall of 2012]
