It is the Fall. We, as moms, tend to do it all. We wear all sorts of hats from PTA, to AWANA, to Room Mom, to wife, to mom, to daughter, to full-time employee, to boss, to soccer coach, to chef, I mean really, we DO. IT. ALL. Why? No one ever told us we had to do that. My friend Becca once said something that resonated with me. She said when her hubby or anyone else for that matter gets on her case about not getting something done she simply and smartly says, “I’m only one woman.”

When did we decide that we needed to wear the pants in the family? When did we decide that we wanted to be a full-time mom, full-time employee, and a full-time crazy lunatic? Oh yes! Now I remember: it was AT THE FALL!!! The FALL!!! Man!! What on earth were WE thinking? And when I say the collective “WE” I mean EVE. Honestly, if you were her, you would have done the same thing. Don’t give me the line “If I were Eve I would not have eaten the fruit!” That is just not true and you know it.

The thing that makes me giggle is that we THINK we all know what the curse was, right? The sad crafty deceiver animal, whatever he was before hand, now has to slither on his belly and eat dust all the days of his life. There would also be this continual struggle between Satan and humans. Yep, we get that. The men had to now work the land by the sweat of their brow. He would have to really WORK to get anywhere in life. And sad sad women. What did we get? Increased pain in childbirth. I can handle that! Anyone can handle that. We’ve got epidurals now. Woohoo! We got off easy!

Not so fast! There is oooonnnneeee little teeeeeny weeeeeny curse that God gave us that somehow we have all managed to have amnesia about. Do you remember what it was? Think REAL hard now. Nope, nothing, right? Let’s take a look, shall we?

To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”

(Genesis 3:16 ESV)

What does that mean that our desire will be for my husband and he will rule over us? Let’s find out.

The Hebrew word for desire is tĕshuwqah which means just that, to desire or crave something as in longing for it or reaching out for it. The next word in that sentence is ‘iysh which just means “man”. The third word is mashal which means to rule or have dominion over.

I think too often we misunderstand what is being said here. We think that means that we will desire our husbands and he will be the head of the household. That is not what this verse is saying. More accurately, when you think in context of this being a curse and when you read those words one by one without putting other words in there, we will desire after men but they will still rule over us. We will desire to be LIKE them.

Think about that now historically. Women have time and time again tried to be men. From scandalously wearing pants, to acting like men, to wanting to do their jobs. We are women! We can do it all! Hear me roar!

I am sorry, but I am tired of trying to be a man. I. AM. A. WOMAN! And I am beautiful! I want to BE a woman, not a man. I want what God wants for me! He designed me differently. I am more emotional. I love connecting with people. I like to chat with people. I want to help others. I am naturally a nurturing person. The areas I stumble on are the areas I stupidly decided to think I could do better than my husband, or any man for that matter.

Consider this. Men are not better than women. Women are not better than men. Just like ice is not better than water. They are just DIFFERENT. Both are necessary to get the job done. Honor that. Be who God wants you and designed you to be. Stop trying to do everything. Raise your babies. Be a helper to your husband. Don’t try to control everything or be everything or do everything. You will only find true balance in your life when you find God’s balance for your life. I promise you. If you do it God’s way, you will be blessed beyond anything you could ever have imagined!

Today is my birthday. Not my first birthday, but my second. The day of my salvation. What a huge blessing to be a child of God. Even though I am one of God’s children, I must always have a reverent fear of Him. He is an all consuming fire. The manner in which many come to him today is deplorable. The awe and reverence that priests would have when they went into the holy of holies was so intense and now I fear the pendulum has swung too far the other way. There needs to be in me an equal understanding of awe, reverence, and fear along side of admiration, devotion, and friendship. To place God in the “He’s my dad” box or “He is my friend” while true, if that is the only way we see Him can be fundamentally and salvifically catastrophic. I hope and pray that my view of God would be a high and respectful view but that that view would grow in wisdom and understanding with each and every passing day. I pray that the world would also start to view God in light of what the Bible (the WHOLE Bible) teaches rather than what we as man have rewritten him to be in our own minds.

My unbelief gets the best of me at times. I become a “doubting Thomas” as they say. It is so sad for Thomas to have that label but so many many of us can relate to him most. We are stubborn and have this built in desire to not be duped. What is that? Is it because of the fall? Is it because we were so utterly duped that the fibers of our being detest that ultimate shame that comes when we know we have been duped? Possibly. Our Pride? We desire to be “in the know.” We are a people who desire glory. We want to feel justified. But then the Holy Spirit inside me reassures me and confirms me. I AM SAVED! My faith is built on a ladder of logic. It is not blind. It is as real, if not more so, than anything in this world. Jesus deserves more of me. Jesus deserves ALL of me. All I ask for is more faith. An abundance of faith. Every day please add to me faith.

Jesus came and lived among us as a man. Think about that. Would the President of the United States ever decide to go live in the slums of New York? Or would the Queen of England give up her comforts in the Royal Palace to live with the servants? NEVER! But God did just that. He gave up everything, EVERYTHING, to live a life we could never live and die the death we deserve. In an effort to continually dedicate our lives to God it is common for people to “take stock” of their lives and really think about the things that might be taking them out of the game or distracting them from Kingdom things.

As I mentioned, Jesus came and gave up everything. Satan tried to tempt him over 40 days with all sorts of things. He is the great deceiver. For us Christians he is no longer the great deceiver, but is most definitely the great distracter. He has figured out how to get us distracted from our work, distracted from our first love, distracted from serving God only. What is your distraction? TV? Facebook? Instagram? Strava? Sports? iPad Games? General Cell Phone Use? What takes your time? Look at your days and your week. You sleep 8 hours, you work 8 hours or are a full time mom, you do other life things like commute, eat, shower for about 2-4 hours. What do you do for the other 4-6 hours a day? Only you can answer the item that is a thorn in your side at this moment. What is your distraction? What do you tend to get sucked into? OK, do you have it? Write it down right now. Stop reading and write it down. (PAUSE)

I challenge you to give up something that has become a distraction to the relationship between you and your Creator. Replace it with time with God in prayer, reading His Word, serving or in outreach. If you are giving up a large chunk of time, like 3 hours a day of TV, then break it up. Read your Bible for an hour a day, read a book about theology, and pray more. If this is too large to handle, then take the 3 hours and give half to God. Watch TV for only an hour and a half, and spend the other time with God. Same with athletic training. If you still need to train, consider taking a portion of that time and giving it to God. Figure out something that is doable but that is still a sacrifice to you. It should not be easy. Then do it! Constantly remind yourself of all the things Jesus gave up for all of us. Let’s honor God in our sacrifice. Let’s not allow Satan to win his war on the saints by his tactic of distraction warfare. Place God first! Resolve to become a better ambassador, a stronger believer, a more faithful Christian.

I can be overly zealous about things. Seriously passionate. Why is it that being passionate about other non-religious things or even non-Jesus religious things are acceptable, yet being a complete sold out Jesus freak is not? I look at it from the “true believer” perspective. Christians who are true believers are looked at like fanatics, lunatics, freaks, but people who are passionate about any other religion or thing on this earth are praised as driven, passionate, and are applauded for their efforts. I say it is simply the demons at work. This world and Satan has only one desire and goal, to get us to turn from Christ and to anything and everything that is a false hope or false pursuits in hopes of never allowing anyone to see the Truth. Be on guard, Christian and keep your eye trained on the One who is Truth.

Galatians 1:14 ESV
And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.

The people of Galatia were adding to the original gospel Paul preached to them by adding Jewish customs and traditions. He was harshly rebuking them for this but he also told them his own story showing them that he could relate. He was not just pointing the finger. Paul wants them to know how important the Jewish traditions were to him and that he was a Jews Jew. He understands their desire to uphold the Jewish customs. Let’s always remember that our actions speak louder than words to our non-Christian friends and family. If you are a follower of Christ, then do just that, follow Christ. Too many who claim to be Christian say they follow Christ but clearly follow the traditions and distractions of this Satan-delivered world.

Little cracks. Little fractures. So small you can hardly see them. But YOU can see them. You know they are there. My self wanting to be You. My self wanting to be right. My self wanting to be in charge. I give myself to You every day and then battle with You to try to nit pick it back. Then I end my day again in my bed asking for forgiveness. Sleeping. Then waking with resolve to give it all to You today, everything. Then the cycle begins again. Nit pick here nit pick there. My flesh unwittingly tries to take it back. Even though my mind tells me no. My heart even tells me no. My soul screams no. But it is my flesh that is waging war against me. My flesh wants deity. It wants what it cannot have. My soul is disgusted and even devastated by the strength of my flesh. But then my heart is renewed in an instant. In a flash. In a split of a split second. Because it remembers. It knows. It rests in the simple truth that You are Sovereign. You are LORD. You are MY God and nothing, NOTHING can separate me from you, not even my own meddling flesh. Oh happy day. Oh joyous day. What peace this brings to every fiber of my being, even to my flesh that becomes placated by your Spirit. What rest I find in You Jesus! What amazing peace, joy, rest, and love.