This week I’m posting 3 quick examples of an encouraging attribute or action of God. Yesterday was an example of God’s provision. Today we have an example of God’s healing. While the spiritual gift of healing given to men in the first century, and today’s example is one of those, the sign gift of healing from the early days of the church has ceased. However, God Himself does still heal, sometimes obviously miraculously.
Yahweh will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health. (Psalm 41:3).
Rembrandt van Rijn 1606 – 1669, The Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law
Sometimes when we become ill we might, in our delirium or pain, cry out, why, Lord? Sometimes, like Job, we may never know. But we DO know that all God does is good.
Barnes’ Notes says of the Psalm 41 verse,
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible: The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing – The word rendered strengthen here means to support; to uphold; to sustain. The idea here is, that God would enable him to bear his sickness, or would impart strength – inward strength – when his body failed, or when but for this aid he must sink under his disease and die.
Here is Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 41 verse 3-
Verse 3.The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. The everlasting arms shall stay up his soul as friendly hands and downy pillows stay up the body of the sick. How tender and sympathising is this image; how near it brings our God to our infirmities and sicknesses! Whoever heard this of the old heathen Jove, or of the gods of India or China? This is language peculiar to the God of Israel; he it is who deigns to become nurse and attendant upon good men. If he smites with one hand he sustains with the other. Oh, it is blessed fainting when one falls upon the Lord’s own bosom, and is borne up thereby! Grace is the best of restoratives; divine love is the noblest stimulant for a languishing patient; it makes the soul strong as a giant, even when the aching bones are breaking through the skin. No physician like the Lord, no tonic like his promise, no wine like his love. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. What, doth the Lord turn bed maker to his sick children? Herein is love indeed. Who would not consider the poor if such be the promised reward? A bed soon grows hard when the body is weary with tossing to and fro upon it, but grace gives patience, and God’s smile gives peace, and the bed is made soft because the man’s heart is content; the pillows are downy because the head is peaceful. Note that the Lord will make all his bed, from head to foot. What considerate and indefatigable kindness! Our dear and ever blessed Lord Jesus, though in all respects an inheritor of this promise, for our sakes condescended to forego the blessing, and died on a cross and not upon a bed; yet, even there, he was after awhile upheld and cheered by the Lord his God, so that he died in triumph.” –end Spurgeon
Sometimes God heals us by taking us home to heaven. Other times he gives wellness after the illness, like He did to Peter’s Mother-in-Law. Either way, God is perfect.
Our frail frame, our restless mind, our quailing spirit, often doubts God’s promise to provide for us. He promised to sustain the Hebrews in the desert for 40 years. And He did. Every day, the manna came down (except the Sabbath, but they got double on the day before).
Here in 2 Kings, we see another incident of provision. A shorter term, a smaller miracle, but nonetheless, a fulfillment of His promise to sustain His people in the ways they need sustaining.
Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too cramped for us. Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.” Then one of them said, “Please agree and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.” So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But it happened that as one of them was cutting down a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Oh, my master! It was borrowed!” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it. (2 Kings 6:1-7).
The MacArthur study note says of verse 5,
“Iron was expensive, and relatively rare in Israel at that time, and the student-prophet was very poor. The axe head was loaned to the prophet since he could not have afforded it on his own and would have no means to reimburse the owner for it.”
“Elisha threw a stick in the river at the exact spot where the axe head entered, and the stick caused the heavy iron object to float to the surface. Through this miracle, the Lord again provided for one who was faithful to Him.” ~John MacArthur
If you’re feeling worried about your future, short term or long term, remember that the Lord promised to sustain us. Yes, we do have to work. We aren’t wandering Jews in the desert waiting for manna to drop from heaven. We don’t lay on the couch and do nothing to help ourselves. But provision does come from heaven, whether in the form of a job, or a surprise check, or a new helper, or in a thousand ways our puny brains can’t even imagine.
The student-prophets in those verses were working to build a larger dwelling since there had been such an increase in enrollments, they outgrew their old school. But God does provide, not only the big things like manna, but the little things like an axe head. Trust Him.
Susannah Spurgeon and her husband Charles had a close relationship. When Charles passed away in 1892, she was left a widow in deep grief. They were married 36 years. Charles had called her “the greatest of all earthly blessings.” Susannah herself said of their life together they were “two pilgrims treading this highway of life together, hand in hand,–heart linked to heart.”
Susannah knew grief. She also knew Jesus.
Susannah Spurgeon, from “A Basket of Summer Fruit” (written after the death of her beloved husband, C. H. Spurgeon)
As this is a “personal note”, I may be allowed to tell you that, in my deep and increasing loneliness, I still find sweetest comfort in praising God for His will concerning my beloved and myself, and have even been able to thank Him for taking His dear servant from this sorrowful land of sin and darkness—to the bliss and glory of His eternal presence. Fixing my heart on the blessed fact that what the Lord does is right and best, simply because He does it, I feel the anchor hold in the depths of His love—and no tempest is powerful enough to drive faith’s barque from these moorings. It can outride any storm with anchorage in such a haven. Many a time, when the weight of my dreadful loss seemed as if it must crush me, it has been lifted by the remembrance that, in Heaven, my dear one is now perfectly praising his Lord; and that, if I can sing, too, I shall even here on earth be joining him in holy service and acceptable worship.
How many of you, dear readers, will be “chief singers” unto our God, and resolve that, henceforth, His praise shall be continually in your mouth? Let us, each one, say to the Lord, with good Isaac Watts—
“Long as I live, I’ll bless Your Name, My King, my God of love; My work and joy shall be the same, In the bright world above.”
She acknowledged her grief and loneliness, but also acknowledged that God is good. Here, ‘Susie’ Spurgeon focused on God’s goodness, the firm foundation of her faith, and the fact that her beloved husband is now with his beloved savior, worshiping Him in perfect glory.
Losing someone you love is not easy. Without Christ it’s almost impossible. But God…He knows the grief and loss that batters the Christian heart. He wept at Lazarus’ tomb.
To the folks that have lost someone recently, please know that I grieve with you. The loss of a friend, husband, family member or child is mournful. It is especially sad when we are fairly sure the loved one was not saved. But God…in His inscrutable ways, gives love to those whom He gives life, and death to whom he gives death. It’s not a comfort in the moment of highest grief, perhaps, nor a comfort in the deep of night’s loneliness, but is it a fact. A good fact. Cling to it, and perhaps if you are suffering, it may make the suffering a molecule less painful…
To the casual or immature discerners who say “just eat the meat and spit out the bones”… I ask you this:
If you are a parent, even if you’re not, picture your sweet baby in his high chair. You are preparing food for him and place it in his plastic bowl in front of him with his little spoon. In the bowl is a hunk of meat along with its bones. You tell the toddler to eat the meat and just spit out the bones.
Is this a safe way for your baby to consume food?
It’s a hypothetical question. We all know it’s not safe to serve a baby meat with bones and just tell the child to spit out the bones. This illustration was designed to highlight one fatal flaw: PRIDE. We think we are smarter than we are.
How do I know this? Because we all are babies. We are little children, stumbling along like helpless sheep, trying to do our best to serve God. How many times in the Bible are WE called sheep (which are stupid animals), or babes? We are naïve and vulnerable to the world, to our sin, and to the devil. We need God’s strong word as a fortress, a haven, a sheepfold with Him as guide to get us safely through this life and across the Jordan to eternity.
We think we ‘can handle’ this or that. But we can’t. We are as ignorant and helpless as a baby in a high chair when served what the world has to offer and when served what the church has to offer. We must stay closely in the word of God, lest we be deceived. We are often not smart enough to be bone detectors.
Always test whatever lessons we receive with the word of God, and
Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7).
Written by James Weldon Johnson, 1927 Published in “God’s Trombones:Seven Negro Sermons in Verse“
The author melded ‘Negro’ literary heritage folk sermons and poetry to form a small book of powerful images and ideas. Here is one of them that particularly impacted me.
Weep not, weep not, She is not dead; She’s resting in the bosom of Jesus. Heart-broken husband — weep no more; Grief-stricken son — weep no more; Left-lonesome daughter — weep no more; She’s only just gone home.
Day before yesterday morning, God was looking down from his great, high heaven Looking down on all his children, And his eye fell on Sister Caroline, Tossing on her bed of pain. And God’s big heart was touched with pity, With the everlasting pity.
And God sat back on his throne, And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at his right hand: Call me Death! And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice That broke like a clap of thunder: Call Death! — Call Death! And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven Till it reached away back to that shadowy place, Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.
And Death heard the summons, And he leaped on his fastest horse, Pale as a sheet in the moonlight. Up the golden street Death galloped, And the hoofs of his horse struck fire from the gold, But they didn’t make no sound. Up Death rode to the Great White Throne, And waited for God’s command.
And God said: Go down, Death, go down, Go down to Savannah, Georgia, Down in Yamacraw, And find Sister Caroline. She’s borne the burden and heat of the day, She’s labored long in my vineyard, And she’s tired — She’s weary — Go down, Death, and bring her to me.
And Death didn’t say a word, But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse, And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides, And out and down he rode, Through heaven’s pearly gates, Past suns and moons and stars; On Death rode, And the foam from his horse was like a comet in the sky; On Death rode, Leaving the lightning’s flash behind; Straight on down he came.
While we were watching round her bed, She turned her eyes and looked away, She saw what we couldn’t see; She saw Old Death. She saw Old Death Coming like a falling star. But Death didn’t frighten Sister Caroline; He looked to her like a welcome friend. And she whispered to us: I’m going home, And she smiled and closed her eyes.
And Death took her up like a baby, And she lay in his icy arms, But she didn’t feel no chill. And Death began to ride again — Up beyond the evening star, Out beyond the morning star, Into the glittering light of glory, On to the Great White Throne.
And there he laid Sister Caroline On the loving breast of Jesus.
And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears, And he smoothed the furrows from her face, And the angels sang a little song, And Jesus rocked her in his arms, And kept a-saying: Take your rest, Take your rest, take your rest.
Weep not — weep not, She is not dead; She’s resting in the bosom of Jesus.
Published in God’s Trombones (1927)
IllustrationCredit: Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art Media type: painting Museum Number: Annotation: Artist Aaron Douglas created illustrations to accompany James Weldon Johnson’s 1927 book, God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. Douglas also painted this illustration, Go Down Death, to accompany Johnson’s funeral sermon of the same name. Year: 1927
The cafeteria is crowded with first and second graders when I am on duty there. It is full, and it is loud. VERY loud. It has to be, with nearly 200 children talking even at a normal level, trays banging, feet shuffling, and forks tinkling.
There is this first grade boy who is quiet. He doesn’t speak much, and when he does it is in a soft-spoken voice. He is sensitive and artistic. He has a kind heart and loving eyes.
He raised his hand and he had something to say. I came over, expecting him to ask me the usual, like, please open my ketchup packet, or I dropped my fork and I need another. Instead he said,
“I saw birds at my house.” “What kind of birds did you see?” “I saw a blue jay!” he said happily. “I saw a robin, and a red bird, and crows.” He looked very pleased about this. I said, “The red bird is a cardinal.” “OH! I saw ducks too. We have a pond. And some other birds I forgot.” “Yes, ducks are birds. What do you like about birds?”
“Birds make me laugh.”
EPrata photo
To be touched by the simplicity and beauty of birds singing and flying about a yard is, to me, a response to the Creator in childlike faith.
A childlike faith means that the child sees the wonder of God in all the ways He has revealed Himself as the Bible says. Children intuitively understand the connection of creation to the Creator. I see this every day at school. God says we should all see it.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
Even the creation groans for its Creator, but still does what it is supposed to do even thru the curse- bring Him glory. And they do it.
“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; And the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? (Job 12:7-8)
The birds of the air know what to do. The stars in the sky know what to do. But even when we know what to do, having been saved, often we do not do it. I need to do more of my job for the Lord, and more of praising Him and bringing Him glory.
Bless the LORD, my soul! LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks on the wings of the wind; He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers. (Psalm 104:1-4)
There are billions of stars in our galaxy, and billions of galaxies inside our galaxy and billions more galaxies outside it to the ends of the universe. The stars are innumerable, yet God created all the stars in one moment, as stated in Genesis 1:16 “And he made the stars also… lol it’s like a throwaway line! Oh yah, He made stars too…LOL!
And He named them all!
When a person is injured and the body begins to repair itself, the body knows which kind of cell to replicate. It knows and it goes ahead and does it correctly. God’s perfection at the cellular level brings home like two bookends the fact that God is author of every aspect of the universe from the macro to the micro. From the largest to the tiniest, He is behind it all, and worthy of praise.
How does a cell know to be itself and not another cell in another part of the body? It is the self-replicating DNA that regenerates us, physically. The scientific definition says ‘self-replication is any behavior of a dynamical system that yields construction of an identical copy of itself.’
Replicators have several parts: –A coded representation of the replicator. –A mechanism to copy the coded representation. — A mechanism for effecting construction within the host environment of the replicator.
One of the truisms that scientists ignore when it comes to the evolution v. creation debate is that for there to be self-replicating DNA, which is a code, there must be a CODER. Someone must have created the code and installed it. No computer software created itself, ever. A software engineer created it and installed it. Information must have come from a Mind.
In addition, DNA is self-correcting! There are ‘fixer cells’ inside our bodies that hurry to a place where there is trouble and fix the cell! How does a fixer cell know to do that, and where to go? Again it is a praise to our Creator!
Think on Him today as Creator, and praise Him at times throughout the day as you see some of His wonders.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; May the LORD rejoice in His works; He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. May my praise be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall rejoice in the LORD. (Psalm 104:31-34)
*She would be another, better Eve, working in cooperation with the Redeemer, bringing the world back “from its revolt and sin.” 1*
photo source: Thegraphicsfairy.com
Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife @godlywomanhood posted something the other day on a topic she often posts on: suffragism. Suffragism is defined as the advocacy of the extension of suffrage (as to women). Women who advocated for the right to vote were called suffragettes.
The 3 Big Moral/Social Justice Movements of the 1800s
Suffragism arose in the early 1800s as the Temperance Movement gained widespread momentum. The Temperance Movement was a moral movement urging societal change- that people (men) abstain from drinking alcohol. Another moral movement in the early decades of the 1800s overlapping with Temperance and Suffrage, was Abolition of slavery. Women were effective campaigners in the Temperance movement and soon began to campaign for the right to vote. They were effective in this also. They held protests, parades, pickets….
Suffragists parade down Fifth Avenue, 1917.
Advocates march in October 1917, displaying placards containing the signatures of more than one million New York women demanding the vote.
The New York Times Photo Archives
All this female hussy-type activity was jarring to many, and soon an anti-Suffrage movement sprang up. These were women (and men) who opposed the movement to give women the right to vote.
Anti-Suffragists’ Methods
These ‘antis’ wanted to get their position across but do so in a more genteel, ladylike way. So:
“They campaigned at country fairs by distributing bulletins while offering advice on such womanly subjects as first aid. Considered the “Heaven, Home and Mother crowd,” they held teas, fund-raising balls, and luncheons at hotels and women’s colleges, as opposed to the noisy parading, picketing, and public speaking promoted by suffragists. The “antis,” wearing their emblem of pink or red roses, campaigned quietly by circulating antisuffrage literature in the state legislative gallery.”Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
[As an aside, this reminds me exactly of Phyllis Schalfly’s method she used to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. See: Hulu’s series ‘Mrs. America’]
The antisuffrage movement was the birth of the Cult of True Womanhood. Historians acknowledge that it was based on the 4 moral virtues of piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. This was a real cult and a real movement and historically a fact.
The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors and society could be divided into four cardinal virtues-piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. Put them all together and they spelled mother, daughter, sister, wife-woman. Without them, no matter whether there was fame, achievement or wealth, all was ashes. With them she was promised happiness and power.” Barbara Welter,The Cult of True Womanhood1820-1860, see below for source.
source thegraphicsfairy.com
“Antisuffrage members alleged that the right to vote would not solve the problems of women and society. They opposed suffrage primarily because they believed in the “cult of true womanhood” (piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness) and in the separate sphere of the home. The apolitical association served to educate and to legitimize activism within the traditional female domain.” OKHistory.org
You note that though these ‘antis’ were opposed to women’s suffrage and scandalized by women protesting and marching and speechifying, the antis were hypocritical in their approach. IF they truly embodied “Godly Womanhood” they would have been content to remain at home and leave the anti-suffrage campaigning to the husband.
But they didn’t.
The Cult of True Womanhood was (and is) a real thing
The movement that arose in opposition to women’s suffrage in the latter decades of the 1800s and early 1900s was, as mentioned before, a moral one. It was named. Its name was “Cult of True Womanhood“. It was also called the “Cult of Domesticity”. Part of its ideology included the ‘separate spheres’ concept: that women dwelled on one sphere (the home) and men dwelled on another sphere (the world).
Is this beginning to seem familiar with a certain movement headed by certain females on social media today? It is now known as the Trad Wife movement.
Activism is Activism, Hypocrisy is Hypocrisy
The godly womanhood cultists back in the 1800s were activists just as much as the bolder ‘pro-suffrage’ activists were activists. Their methods differed, but they were ALL activists. The ‘True women’ simply applied a veneer of virtue over their activities and claimed the higher moral ground. Remember, the hallmark of the Cult of True Womanhood was and is “Piety, Purity, Submissiveness, and Domesticity.”
Interestingly, in addition to external pietism, and in addition to the internal hypocrisy in their approach, the Cult of True Womanhood anti suffragists also had at its center an unwieldy quandary. Believers in the cult said women are the moral arbiter of the home, not only capable but commanded to set standards for Christian Godly living, yet at the same time, women lacked the moral intelligence to make proper moral decisions when they vote.
“It is unwise, unfair, and unjust to force upon a majority of women, a measure which is obnoxious to all their ideals of womanhood, in order that the wishes of a small minority may prevail.”
But that same tract goes on to say the following:
“It is a mistake to presume that all women will vote right on moral issues. Experience proves that many of the worst ills of social life are due to the influence of women of low ideals of right and wrong, or of degrading morals.”
History is more nuanced than our memories allow
An ideal, these women say, is the wife in the home, never straying outside it, presiding over serene domestic excellence. It is a moral ideal, not a biblical reality. The 1950s picture of ‘prefeminism’ life didn’t exist. If you want prefeminism life, go back before the Fall. The ideal presented by the Godly Womanhood Cultists is a figment. Their version of womanhood was hardly EVER the case then and it’s hardly ever the case now. We read from Jeanne Boydston :
Meanwhile, industrialization also forced free women in northern working-class households to labor for cash, as street vendors, tavern-keepers, boarding-house operators, paid domestic servants, garment workers, prostitutes, and a variety of other occupations. Young women from New England farms provided the nation’s first factory labor force in the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, beginning in 1814. A surprising number of middle-class families also depended on the paid labor of the wives.
Who could adhere to these impossible and largely imaginary eras of domestic perfection? Mostly white upper class women.
Although all women were expected to abide by the standards of true womanhood, in reality, it was predominantly White, Protestant, upper-class women who did so. Due to social prejudices of the period, Black women, working women, immigrants, and those who were lower on the socioeconomic ladder were excluded from the chance to ever be true paragons of domestic virtue.”Thought Co.
source thegraphicsfairy.com
A wife should occupy herself only with domestic affairs-wait till your husband confides to you those of a high importance-and do not give your advice until he asks for it…if he is abusive, never retort.”
The Lady’s Token: or Gift of Friendship, 1848
History is complicated and our minds want to dispense with some of the more gritty realities-
This [wives’] work was vital to household economic survival. Only among the very wealthiest families were husbands’ incomes large enough to purchase everything a family needed to survive. In the poorest of families, wives scavenged the wharves and alleys for abandoned or unguarded food, fuel, and clothing. Even in middling families, a wife’s labor in keeping a garden, making clothes, economizing with food, and even producing some of the family’s furnishings (ottomans, pillows, mattresses) and equipment (like soap) enabled her household to maintain a comfortable standard of living on incomes that were often otherwise insufficient.Jeanne Boydston
Folks adhering to the Cult of True Womanhood only have ONE narrow view of what a woman is or what she may do. The reality is different. Women worked the cotton fields, the mills, or farmed, for example.
If the middle or lower class wife’s activities seem familiar, it is because they were recounted as the Proverbs 31 wife’s full day of work. Martin Luther’s wife Katy Von Bora also spent hours upon hours a day doing these same activities so the household could survive economically.
Katharina immediately took on the task of managing the monastery’s vast holdings. She bred and sold cattle and ran a brewery to provide for their family, the numerous students who boarded with them, and her husband’ visitors. In times of epidemics, she operated a hospital with nurses, working alongside them. Luther called her the ‘boss of Zulsdorf’, after the farm they owned, and the ‘morning star of Wittenberg’ for her habit of rising at 4 a.m. … She thus assisted her husband with running their estate and directed renovations when necessary. Source
Were the Proverbs 31 wife or Katharina Von Bora not ‘godly women’?
The Bible does call for women to be at home primarily oriented toward the home! The word of God advocates for that. But HOW this plays out varies, and it is not, I repeat, not, the singular, narrow view that the historical Cult of True Womanhood promoted in the 1800s and it’s not the narrow view of ‘Trad Wives’ today. It’s not even the biblical view. Why?
Because Prov 31 woman and Katy Von Bora were Gospel centered, not Morality centered. That is the difference between a cult or trad wife, and a biblical wife. They ministered as whole women, in true service to the King, not in service to 4 ‘true woman’ or ‘trad wife’ virtues of piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. That is the difference. Biblical versus moral.
Lydia ran a business selling purple. Susannah was wealthy enough to support Jesus’ ministry AND travel with him. Priscilla made tents with her husband. Rachel’s job was a shepherdess. The Midwives of Egypt worked, the funeral mourners had jobs (Mark 5:38), Sheerah was a builder. And so on.
The 4 Virtues: Piety, Purity, Submissiveness, Domesticity
If this is beginning to seem familiar to you, this is the exact cult that Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife of @godlywomanhood is part of and promotes relentlessly.
I’ve mentioned earlier that the anti-suffragettes formed a moral movement, or a movement based on virtues. Granted, these morals were lifted from the Bible and are excellent virtues for women to have. But once you unhitch these virtues from the Gospel, they turn into serpents and slither away from context and truth to become external legalistic demands instead of internal virtues enhancing a Gospel-oriented life.
As with anything related to history, first, we always remember things more fondly than they actually were. Our historical memories might be sepia-tinged, flower laden soft memories, but the reality of womanhood at the time the Cult of True Womanhood was born was hardly that.
To the extent that white women from more prosperous households succeeded in embodying “true womanhood” in their own lives, they inevitably did so at the expense of other women, whose labor produced so many of the commodities and services of the perfectly domestic household. Here was the final paradox of nineteenth-century “true womanhood.”Jeanne Boydston
As godly women, we want to raise up younger women to enjoy marriage as a true Godly woman. We do so by teaching the whole woman all the doctrines of the Bible so that she will be stable and assured of her position in life: as a child of the king ministering to Him out of love and gratitude for His sacrifice on the cross. We do not extract preferred virtues from the Bible, turn them into a cult, and place these burdensome demands on women as moralistic ideals separate from the word of God as a movement on its own.
The Trad Wife movement may have a germ of a good idea at the center but like Jesus warned, woes to anyone who substitutes pietism for holiness, and moralistic externals for internal realities.
There is nothing new under the sun. The Cult of True Womanhood existed then and it exists now. Be warned that, as Shakespeare said, everything that glitters is not gold.
Has anyone else noticed that in spite of more people waking up to deception and warning others, deception continues to spread like a lit match in a haystack?
Amy Spreeman
Yes. I have noticed. Sometimes the deception in both the world and in Christianity, or the current version of it, seems like a wave I cannot withstand.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Note the people in the boats.
Sometimes it seems like deception is clawing the faithful in a great wave threatening to drown the truth. Of course, the truth will never be drowned. God is powerful to preserve and grow his church. It shall never be overcome. (Matthew 16:18).
It is still hard to stand at the shore and see people claiming to love Jesus but dragged away from Him in deception. I deal with discernment in this ministry (as well as encouragement, exhortation, and natural theology.) Researching and writing about Discernment can turn a person crabby and bitter, or lead them into despair. UNLESS the person, unless I, stay focused on Jesus.
I need to ask Jesus for some strength. I spoke to Jesus about this as I was making my bed and straightening up. It was an out loud prayer. (No, He did not answer back…not audibly anyway. Read to end.) I was saying that discernment takes a toll, but it is worth it when some, even one, comes to the truth without the pollution of deception. It is worth walking through the haze of anger and outrage for even one to be delivered from a false doctrine. Lord, I know it may not be your will to encourage me or show me, I said, but if possible, I could use some encouragement right now.
I thought of the starfish story. Yes, even one.
I’m sure you have heard the starfish story. Here it is from Joel Barker. The story has gone through several iterations since the 1969 Loren Eiseley original.
Once upon a time, there was a wise man, much like Eiseley himself, who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer, he called out, “Good morning! What are you doing?” The young man paused, looked up and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
“I guess I should have asked, Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”
“The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don’t throw them in they’ll die.”
“But young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!”
The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves. “It made a difference for that one!”
The next day, a woman messaged me. She said she was relieved and happy that someone was calling out Lori Alexander. She said that Lori’s ungodly advice had put a burden on her, and as a result she had increasingly felt defeated and hopeless. That Lori’s approach was definitely not one of caring or compassion. This lady was thankful for the essay I wrote that pushed her firmly toward confirming her earlier discernment of Lori’s legalism.
Well.
I want to help ALL the starfish. I can’t. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, I made a difference to THIS one. Thank you, Lord for answering my plea.
When I listen to “Shall we gather at the river”, and think about all my Christian friends I’ll see there. Let us gather at the river now, in our hearts, and worship Him, acknowledge His power and His love. His grace delivers us, we lay our burdens down. I praise Him today and all days. He is waiting for us there, arms outstretched and in perfect love He will envelop us. He is on His throne, and He reigns. Again, I praise Him today and all days.
the-end-time.org 