God's Feminine Side

I have made a habit of reading one chapter of Proverbs every day.  Since there are 31 chapters of Proverbs, I can read the entire book 12 times in a year by reading the remaining chapters on the last day of the shorter months.  Anyway, after having done this for a little more than a year now I have discovered that God the Father reveals His feminine attributes in this often puzzling book.  The first nine chapters in particular repeatedly refer to Wisdom in the feminine gender.  In chapter one verse 20 Wisdom is referred to as “she” and this pattern continues throughout the first nine chapters.  “Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares, She cries out in the chief concourses…She speaks her words…” and on and on it goes.  Now I can be a little slow on the uptake, and this slipped by me for quite some time before I began to notice, and realize that the Scriptures are revealing something special about our Father in these chapters.  Even though the references to Wisdom as “she” and “her” diminish here and there, the inference remains throughout the first several chapters.

 

I particularly love chapters eight and nine; and verses 22-36 of chapter eight just highlight and confirm my thesis that God the Father has revealed His feminine tenderness and care in this passage.  Wisdom has been a part of God from the very beginning of creation.  Chapter 8:22 says of Wisdom “The Lord possessed me (wisdom) at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.”  That's a long time, and it sounds to me like "She - Wisdom" has always been there as a part of God's being.

 

This has caused me to wonder about how seriously we men consider the advice of our wives.  I know that I have too often opted to follow my own instincts rather than the advice of my wife only to discover that she was right all along, and if I had just listened to her “wisdom” I would have been much better off.  Do you suppose there could have been something more in that rib God removed from Adam’s side?  Perhaps it was more, much more than just flesh and bone.  Perhaps the wisdom of a man was contained in that tiny transplanted piece of our anatomy – that would give a whole new meaning to the phrase in Genesis 2:18 when God said “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”  It seems to me that we should reconsider the meaning of the passage in First Corinthians 3:18-20 which says: “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness…”

Now I want you to know that I publish this message with some hesitation knowing that my wife will be reading it.  But I believe it is wise for all of us to search the scriptures carefully to find application for our individual lives, and to take more seriously the advice of our mates.  God has put us together for a reason.  So why short-change ourselves by not working together as one, combining our gifts, opinions, and yes our wisdom to reach the goal that our Heavenly Father has ordained for us.  So don't be a wise guy!  When you go home tonight, try sitting down with your wife and say “Honey, what do you think about…?”  Then listen carefully!

Have a blessed week.

It's All About Relationships

Have you ever read Proverbs 18 - slowly - verse by verse and listened carefully to what is being said by the writer?  The underlying theme of this chapter as I see it is relationships.  Verse one states " A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgement."  and the final verse - verse 24 ends with "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Intermingled throughout the entire chapter you will find little golden nuggets of truth that will help you build strong relationships with God and with people.  Words like understanding, and humility.  Warnings about slothfulness and contention.  Encouragement about the righteous running to God (our strong tower).  How haughtiness brings about destruction, but humility brings honor.  How speaking out before you know the facts is folly and brings shame.  Think about what these verses are saying.  We are to acquire knowledge and understanding and put our God given gifts to work.  Avoid being offended, and do not allow contentions to have a place in our lives.  Be careful what you say because "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..."  Verse 22 says "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord."  These are all indicators of relationships, strong or otherwise!  God is interested in our relationships.  He created us to need and have relationships.  Good relationships with each other and with Him - especially with Him!

Verse 14 says "The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?"  What is more heart-breaking than a broken relationship?  When a relationship is broken, I believe our spirit is forever affected.  It pains me to witness families disintegrate at the loss of a loved one, and the battles afterward that break out all too often over who did or did not help when they could have; or when arguments erupt over who gets the trinkets that the loved one left behind.  My heart aches for couples in the throes of divorce, and the children caught up in events that they neither caused nor have control over.  And when old friends part company over a silly disagreement.  The saddest of all broken relationships are the ones that never were because an unborn child has been aborted because it was unwanted or inconvenient.  This is not what our Lord wants for us!

When Jesus was asked what the most important commandments were, Jesus replied "The foremost is, hear O Israel!  The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength' the second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  This simple reply from our Lord is the essence of relationships.  And if you recall the proverb of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told us essentially that everyone is our neighbor.
So my challenge this week is a simple one.  Prayerfully read Proverbs 18, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to evaluate your relationships.  Then do your best to strengthen each and every one.  Have a blessed week.