'I will greatly multiply your sorrow and
your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be *for your husband,
(Lit. toward)
And he shall rule over you.' "
Note: There was a
point early in my walk with the Lord in which my husband forbid me to call my
friend Ruth ever again. This was my one point of contact with anyone godly at
the time, and to give up speaking by phone to this sister meant I would be
surrounded only by hostile people. But in my fervent desire to please the Lord
I realized I had to submit to his order and trust God for the outcome. I
decided I would write a letter to the woman explaining I was not allowed to
call her again - but before I could do this my husband called home - at
lunchtime - a very unusual thing. He said "I'm sorry. You can talk to Ruth. In
all the years we have been married you never told me who I could have as a
friend, and I have no right to tell you who you can have as a friend." I could
hardly believe what had just happened! I called Ruth to share what a wonderful
thing God had done to my husband's heart. She said "That was God!" It was indeed. I firmly believe to this day if I had not chosen
to submit to his order I would not have been blessed. I might have continued to
call her in defiance of my husband's wishes, but our relationship would not
have been the same from then on. There are times we must make decisions to
submit to our husbands - not because what they are asking is correct - but
because it is something important to them. Like the time he wanted me to lay the steak knives down on their sides on the plastic tray after washing to protect their wooden handles. I could just as easily put them in a strainer, but he did't like that. There have been many times over the
years that I chose to submit to him and God later changed his mind about the situation.
And in the process my husband realized I respected his wishes, and grew to
love me more for it. Only God can change hearts like that. This is not to say
women should submit to things that do not line up with what God says is right.
The only way to gain understanding on where we should and should not submit is
to read God's Word and learn what things are good in His eyes. Then you
will see what He sees as wrong and know where to draw the line. 