The Power of Women

Jodina & I walked this morning and as we did, God began revealing TRUTH to us. OUCH!! It hurts sometimes, doesn't it?
I told her that I'd read Proverbs 16 this morning and verse 33 jumped out at me: "The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly of the Lord [even the events that seem accidental are really ordered by Him]."
What I got from this verse is that my main concern in life is to learn to submit to God. He has a plan. I can either come in agreement with His plan or I can oppose Him. Period.
From there we discussed Proverbs 14:1, "Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands." I've never much liked that verse. ha! Because it shows just how much power we have as women---over our own homes. We can either build it with our hearts...or destroy it with our hearts. We can either build it with our words...or destroy it with our words. We can either build it with our actions...or destroy it with our actions. We can either build it with our minds...or destroy it with our mind.
Ahhhh....the real heart of the matter. Our minds. As we talked, we admitted that the biggest part of our problems originate in our minds. See if you do this, too. I can think through a weekend. I can have it all planned out in my mind. I see where we should go, what we should do and who we should spend it with. In my mind, I can even see Andy's part in my plans. If I'm honest with you, I can go as far as telling Andy (at the last minute) about some part of our weekend that I've got planned in my mind, and he has said, "I didn't know we were going to do that." And I get all bent out of shape and remind him quite pointedly that I told him what we had planned. He's argued that he had no idea. Are you kidding me? Did I just have all of that worked out in my mind and never fill him in? (But trust me...I usually stay on my steady course and try to make him think it's all his fault!) This also explains why I can get upset when Andy gets sleepy when we're supposed to be out having fun---I've already thought through how this evening is supposed to go and he's just not cooperating!
Or you could get angry over shared responsibility---because you had it all mapped out in your mind what each of you were going to do. And he's just not doing what you expected!
The sum of our expectations should be in God--not ourselves and certainly not in others. (Psalm 27:14)
Is this resonating in your mind yet? I think because we can multi-task, we think through so many options and then expect our husbands to fit in the way we think they should. That causes problems.
Those are vain imaginations that God tells us to cast down. (II Corinthians 10:4-5) Oh boy. It all starts in the mind. We're constantly given a choice. Do we submit to God or do we choose to go our own way? Do we choose to entertain thoughts in our minds that are going to lead to life or to death of our families?
Why did God give us women so much responsibility? The power to build our homes or the power to destroy our homes lies in our own hands.