Have you ever felt like running away? Well that is where I have been the past few weeks. Life has been a challenge. I've been discouraged, depressed and well...ready to just pack my bags and hit the road. I've struggled with my attitude and my actions. I've stomped my feet and cried out to God and boy have I wanted to just escape. This past weekend, however, I witnessed something that completely floored me, and convicted me of my actions and attitudes. My daughter is on a competitive dance team. Most of the girls on the team compete solo dances as well as team. This is the very first solo for three of the girls and one of them was the first one out on the stage after an already long day of dancing. As she took the stage and her music started she stopped right in the middle of her first few steps. She stared out at the audience and froze. The cheers from her family and her team mates broke into her thoughts and after a moment she began to tap again. She ended up finishing the rest of her routine to the applause of many. One of the judges actually began to clap and cheer her on when she started to dance again. I have never been so proud of a little girl! (And believe me these little girls have given me so many reasons to be proud of them over the last four years) When the awards were handed out the judges awarded her the "Handled It Like A Pro" award! We all stood up and cheered. She told her mother later, "Mommy I wanted to just run off that stage, but I knew I couldn't."
When I heard these words it hit me...you see I've wanted to run off the "stage" for weeks now, but I have kept dancing, although I haven't been handling myself like a pro. No instead I have been that spoiled little girl who stomps up the stairs and says, "This isn't fair God". I've moped around the house feeling sorry for myself and my circmstances. I've ranted and raved. I've threatened. One day I took out the suitcases to start packing, you will be happy to know I put them back. I have let the performance take control of me, instead of me taking control of the performance. I've done what I knew I had to do with entirely the wrong attitude. I've grumbled through my act, and not enjoyed every moment of it because I knew everyone was watching me. I've put on an act that all was well because you know I can't have one hair out of place when I "perform". The truth is life is messy. It's full of drama and upsets. Moments when we want to run off our stage and just hide! But we can't. We are surrounded with such a "great cloud" of witnesses. Heavenly ones, and ones here who watch as we fight on in the midst of our circumstances. They want to know if we are going to give up or go on with God.
I have to tell you that this little girl is now my "heroine". I want to remember that scene when she began to dance again forever. I want to burn it in my memory and never forget it. I want to learn to "keep" dancing when the cares of this life wear me down. More than anything though, when I walk through Heaven's gates, I want God to hand me the "Handled It Like A Pro" award. I want Him to be proud of my attitude and my actions when life's dramas hit hard. So keep dancing, in the midst of the storm, you see I believe He dances right beside you.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Jeremiah 29:11
I know it's been months since I last wrote. Truth is life just gets busy sometimes, and it's been a very busy summer. It isn't that I haven't thought about writing...I have probably started at least 20 blogs, in my head, I just haven't actually sat down to write them. This time however, I need to write. I need to write about one of my all-time favorite scriptures, Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and hope."
Yes, it has been a very crazy and very busy summer. Let me give you just a glimpse of my summer. We have had plans to remodel the bathrooms at our church, a much needed job, for sometime now. Well there we were in the middle of our summer vacation and boom...the phone rang at 9:30. We were in the hotel room trying to get our daughter asleep because she had her big dance competition the next morning and I was going to have to wake her up at 4:30 AM just to get her ready and at the venue by 6:30 AM. So the phone rang and it was one of our deacons letting us know that a water valve had busted in the ladies bathroom and our foyer that had just been renovated two years before was underwater. In fact the bathrooms were flooded along with the nursery, the hallway, the church office and most of the sanctuary! We were 6 hours away in Florida....with commitments. We couldn't just drop everything and take off, so we told our deacon to call in the reserves and do the best he could. We finished our vacation and came home to a mess! (The good news is by the time we are done remodeling...well it's gonna be a whole brand new church just about! Guess we are remodeling those bathrooms a little earlier than planned!) And it hasn't stopped yet! Honestly it's getting to be something new going wrong almost every day, we are kind of laughing about it now.
My husband and I could be stressing about it...we could be worrying...we could be living in the day by day drama of it, but we aren't why? Because we both remember Jeremiah 29:11...we've lived it before. We've had our "dreams" shattered, our hopes crushed...only to see that we serve an amazing GOD, a GOD who sees beyond the shattered dreams...the crushed hope and says, "Oh what a beautiful thing I can do with this!" (Kind of like those ladies we all admire..you know the ones I am talking about? The ones who go to a yard sale...sees someone else's castaways and takes it home because she sees potential! And oh what she does with it!!!!!) That's what God can and does do with your shattered dream!
I'm talking about shattered dreams all because of Ryan. Ryan is the youngest son of my best friend Michelle. He's "my redheaded son"! Well that's what I call him. After the death of my first husband and my move back to Florida, Michelle and her family sort of adopted me. Most evenings I would be at their house having dinner so she could help me pass my college algebra class. We went shopping a lot too! I can still remember one shopping trip to the mall with her two sons, Jared and Ryan. Jared looks exactly like Michelle, Ryan has red hair, did I mention that I am a red head too? Well Ryan was being a bit....ummm active that day and the sales lady just had to make some comment about "redheaded children", I almost started a fight right there in the JC Penney kids department! (Then she really would have found out what they say about redheads!) Most of the time everyone thought Ryan was mine, and that was fine with me. (He really has red hair from his dad!)
Well back to Ryan and shattered dreams. Ryan became a very focused young man. He went to high school and joined the ROTC and decided that the military was what God had planned for him. He was full of dreams, plans and thoughts of graduating from Paris Island and wearing the USMC uniform. (I was so excited..my first husband was a Marine and I couldn't wait to go see him graduate!) I was able to be at his going away party in Jacksonville, Florida only a few weeks ago, and it was a great party for a great kid! Three days later Ryan got on a bus and was taken to Paris Island. Just a few days into that first week of basic training and Ryan was in a hospital room because he was experiencing tremors in his hands. Later tests would reveal some abnormalities that make it impossible for him to pursue his dreams of being a Marine.
His mother posted the news the other night on Facebook and in her message she said this, "Ryan received the news that they are going to disqualify him and are sending him home. He sounds good. He knows God has a plan and He will lead him." It just struck me...as a matter of fact, our whole Sunday morning service yesterday became just about that, God has a plan and HE will lead. So many people are running around with shattered dreams. A job is gone. A husband has left. A diagnosis has come in and it's bad. Your dreams and your plans seem to be taking a turn you can't understand. The church is flooded after you've been having an increase in attendance and giving and now people aren't coming back...ooops did I say that? Anyways what faith Ryan has! That he can say at 18 years of age, "I know God has a plan and He will lead me!"
We all need to remember that! Maybe the way life is heading is not the way you thought it would go, BUT GOD knew! He saw! And HE is the one who will LEAD...if you will listen to his voice! I know after Rob died that I had no clue what I was going to do. So many things to consider, and there I was only 31 wanting to be a wife, not a widow; wanting to be a mother, not childless. It took me a few weeks to just get rested up after the turmoil. Then it took me a few more months just to wrap my head around the "new" life I had to think about. When God finally told me to leave my family in Maine and move back to Florida where I just had a few friends and a great church my first thought was, "Are you sure God?". (Okay maybe it was "Hey God can you be the one to tell this to my mother because she really isn't going to like it!") But I knew that He was telling me to pack and head out. Now I can look back and say I am glad I did.
My husband Randy said something yesterday....oops the day before, it's after midnight, a new day now! During the altar call that became our service..."Nothing has God wringing his hands in desperation. Nothing takes him by surprise." He knew about Ryan's problem before Ryan went to Paris Island. He knew the water valve was going to bust this summer. God isn't up there saying, "Oh no what am I going to do with Ryan now? What are Randy and Gina going to do about the church now?" He's got a plan...and HE will lead.
Maybe this is just for me to write about here in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe I am just encouraging myself....but hey even us Pastor's Wives need to remember sometimes...Jeremiah 29:11-I have a plan Gina, says the Lord! I have a PLAN...and I will LEAD!
All I can say is Thank You Lord...I promise to follow! I can't wait to see what you have in store for my "redheaded son"!
Yes, it has been a very crazy and very busy summer. Let me give you just a glimpse of my summer. We have had plans to remodel the bathrooms at our church, a much needed job, for sometime now. Well there we were in the middle of our summer vacation and boom...the phone rang at 9:30. We were in the hotel room trying to get our daughter asleep because she had her big dance competition the next morning and I was going to have to wake her up at 4:30 AM just to get her ready and at the venue by 6:30 AM. So the phone rang and it was one of our deacons letting us know that a water valve had busted in the ladies bathroom and our foyer that had just been renovated two years before was underwater. In fact the bathrooms were flooded along with the nursery, the hallway, the church office and most of the sanctuary! We were 6 hours away in Florida....with commitments. We couldn't just drop everything and take off, so we told our deacon to call in the reserves and do the best he could. We finished our vacation and came home to a mess! (The good news is by the time we are done remodeling...well it's gonna be a whole brand new church just about! Guess we are remodeling those bathrooms a little earlier than planned!) And it hasn't stopped yet! Honestly it's getting to be something new going wrong almost every day, we are kind of laughing about it now.
My husband and I could be stressing about it...we could be worrying...we could be living in the day by day drama of it, but we aren't why? Because we both remember Jeremiah 29:11...we've lived it before. We've had our "dreams" shattered, our hopes crushed...only to see that we serve an amazing GOD, a GOD who sees beyond the shattered dreams...the crushed hope and says, "Oh what a beautiful thing I can do with this!" (Kind of like those ladies we all admire..you know the ones I am talking about? The ones who go to a yard sale...sees someone else's castaways and takes it home because she sees potential! And oh what she does with it!!!!!) That's what God can and does do with your shattered dream!
I'm talking about shattered dreams all because of Ryan. Ryan is the youngest son of my best friend Michelle. He's "my redheaded son"! Well that's what I call him. After the death of my first husband and my move back to Florida, Michelle and her family sort of adopted me. Most evenings I would be at their house having dinner so she could help me pass my college algebra class. We went shopping a lot too! I can still remember one shopping trip to the mall with her two sons, Jared and Ryan. Jared looks exactly like Michelle, Ryan has red hair, did I mention that I am a red head too? Well Ryan was being a bit....ummm active that day and the sales lady just had to make some comment about "redheaded children", I almost started a fight right there in the JC Penney kids department! (Then she really would have found out what they say about redheads!) Most of the time everyone thought Ryan was mine, and that was fine with me. (He really has red hair from his dad!)
Well back to Ryan and shattered dreams. Ryan became a very focused young man. He went to high school and joined the ROTC and decided that the military was what God had planned for him. He was full of dreams, plans and thoughts of graduating from Paris Island and wearing the USMC uniform. (I was so excited..my first husband was a Marine and I couldn't wait to go see him graduate!) I was able to be at his going away party in Jacksonville, Florida only a few weeks ago, and it was a great party for a great kid! Three days later Ryan got on a bus and was taken to Paris Island. Just a few days into that first week of basic training and Ryan was in a hospital room because he was experiencing tremors in his hands. Later tests would reveal some abnormalities that make it impossible for him to pursue his dreams of being a Marine.
His mother posted the news the other night on Facebook and in her message she said this, "Ryan received the news that they are going to disqualify him and are sending him home. He sounds good. He knows God has a plan and He will lead him." It just struck me...as a matter of fact, our whole Sunday morning service yesterday became just about that, God has a plan and HE will lead. So many people are running around with shattered dreams. A job is gone. A husband has left. A diagnosis has come in and it's bad. Your dreams and your plans seem to be taking a turn you can't understand. The church is flooded after you've been having an increase in attendance and giving and now people aren't coming back...ooops did I say that? Anyways what faith Ryan has! That he can say at 18 years of age, "I know God has a plan and He will lead me!"
We all need to remember that! Maybe the way life is heading is not the way you thought it would go, BUT GOD knew! He saw! And HE is the one who will LEAD...if you will listen to his voice! I know after Rob died that I had no clue what I was going to do. So many things to consider, and there I was only 31 wanting to be a wife, not a widow; wanting to be a mother, not childless. It took me a few weeks to just get rested up after the turmoil. Then it took me a few more months just to wrap my head around the "new" life I had to think about. When God finally told me to leave my family in Maine and move back to Florida where I just had a few friends and a great church my first thought was, "Are you sure God?". (Okay maybe it was "Hey God can you be the one to tell this to my mother because she really isn't going to like it!") But I knew that He was telling me to pack and head out. Now I can look back and say I am glad I did.
My husband Randy said something yesterday....oops the day before, it's after midnight, a new day now! During the altar call that became our service..."Nothing has God wringing his hands in desperation. Nothing takes him by surprise." He knew about Ryan's problem before Ryan went to Paris Island. He knew the water valve was going to bust this summer. God isn't up there saying, "Oh no what am I going to do with Ryan now? What are Randy and Gina going to do about the church now?" He's got a plan...and HE will lead.
Maybe this is just for me to write about here in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe I am just encouraging myself....but hey even us Pastor's Wives need to remember sometimes...Jeremiah 29:11-I have a plan Gina, says the Lord! I have a PLAN...and I will LEAD!
All I can say is Thank You Lord...I promise to follow! I can't wait to see what you have in store for my "redheaded son"!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Open Our Eyes God!
I am not sure if you keep a journal, but I do. Or maybe I should say I did. Seems like life is so busy now that writing daily in a journal is almost impossible. I love to re-read what I wrote however! It helps me to see where I've been, what God has brought me through, and often just makes me smile remembering the things that God has used to teach me lessons. So here I am going to share with you a journal entry I made several years back...I hope it makes you smile, and THINK!
"This morning as I sat on my favorite side of our "old" couch in our "new" home trying to catch up on my reading in my awesome devotional book, something happened that God used to speak to me through! It may seem insignificant, but then again, it may not.
My children Josiah 10 and Aiden Rose 4 were quietly watching a movie in the den as I had my quiet time when all of a sudden Aiden Rose came screaming in pain out of the door. I was startled! She was running almost blindly to me only peeking through one eye. It didn't take me long to see that some how all of her beautiful long eye lashes on her right eye were trapped under her eyelid. You know how just one eye lash can irritate your eye, imagine all of your eyelashes on your eyeball! I knew that in order to relieve her pain I had to get her eye open all the way and free those eyelashes!
Aiden didn't understand that however! She didn't want her eye to be opened. An open eye was what started the pain in the first place. As I tried to open her eye and calm her fears at the same time I realized that I needed help. I told my son who was anxiously looking on that he needed to run upstairs for daddy. While one more time I tried to calmly explain to Aiden Rose the need to open her eye. Just as my husband rounded the corner I was able to get her to trust me enough to open her eye.
After it was all over and we had prayed for her, each of us went back to what we had been doing before. I was still sitting in my favorite spot on the couch and tried to go back to my Bible reading when it hit me. What had just happened was a lot like LIFE! Each day, or maybe for you each month, something hurtful can or will happen to us. We want to keep our eyes shut and hope the pain will just go away. Many times the Lord wants us to open our eyes to the pain (incident) and to TRUST Him to get us through it! He wants to get the "pain" out. He often uses the painful situations in our lives to help us see Him more clearly. We simply need to do the very thing that sometimes we are afraid of doing....Opening our Eyes!
Today...I encourage you...if something painful has or is happening in your life, let God open your eyes to the reality that NOTHING is TOO HARD for HIM! You can believe that HE will get the pain out, and even if the situation doesn't turn around, HE is ALWAYS there for you!
"This morning as I sat on my favorite side of our "old" couch in our "new" home trying to catch up on my reading in my awesome devotional book, something happened that God used to speak to me through! It may seem insignificant, but then again, it may not.
My children Josiah 10 and Aiden Rose 4 were quietly watching a movie in the den as I had my quiet time when all of a sudden Aiden Rose came screaming in pain out of the door. I was startled! She was running almost blindly to me only peeking through one eye. It didn't take me long to see that some how all of her beautiful long eye lashes on her right eye were trapped under her eyelid. You know how just one eye lash can irritate your eye, imagine all of your eyelashes on your eyeball! I knew that in order to relieve her pain I had to get her eye open all the way and free those eyelashes!
Aiden didn't understand that however! She didn't want her eye to be opened. An open eye was what started the pain in the first place. As I tried to open her eye and calm her fears at the same time I realized that I needed help. I told my son who was anxiously looking on that he needed to run upstairs for daddy. While one more time I tried to calmly explain to Aiden Rose the need to open her eye. Just as my husband rounded the corner I was able to get her to trust me enough to open her eye.
After it was all over and we had prayed for her, each of us went back to what we had been doing before. I was still sitting in my favorite spot on the couch and tried to go back to my Bible reading when it hit me. What had just happened was a lot like LIFE! Each day, or maybe for you each month, something hurtful can or will happen to us. We want to keep our eyes shut and hope the pain will just go away. Many times the Lord wants us to open our eyes to the pain (incident) and to TRUST Him to get us through it! He wants to get the "pain" out. He often uses the painful situations in our lives to help us see Him more clearly. We simply need to do the very thing that sometimes we are afraid of doing....Opening our Eyes!
Today...I encourage you...if something painful has or is happening in your life, let God open your eyes to the reality that NOTHING is TOO HARD for HIM! You can believe that HE will get the pain out, and even if the situation doesn't turn around, HE is ALWAYS there for you!
Monday, March 19, 2012
An Anxious Heart
There are moments in our lives that stay with us forever, and then there are some things that slip silently into the night and we completely forget about them. Several years ago I was a stay at home mom enduring another sweltering summer in Georgia. My then three year old daughter was a handful, but add her very busy nine year old brother into the mix and well you can imagine that something was always happening in our home. Let's just say that life is never boring in the Scalise household.
This particular summer was especially unsettling for me. My husband was an Associate Pastor at a church I had grown to love, when our Lead Pastor told us he was gently "pushing us out of the nest". He said that he believed my husband would make a great Lead Pastor. This was something we had not even discussed. We love teenagers, and had determined that our ministry was to be Youth Pastor's until we were well into our Senior Years. Well the whole process of leaving this town and church that I had grown to love and looking for a place to Pastor was making me a nervous wreck.
You see I often suffer from an "anxious" heart! My husband believes it's because I like to be in control of things, but let's not go there right now. I am one of those people who gets excited by the prospect of change, but then reality hits when the boxes begin to come out! I become anxious when I realize that I am leaving a place I've called home for four years, and wonder, just what is going to happen when we get to the new place, and WHERE is it going to be? You can hear my "anxious" heart even in my breathing! Sounds crazy right? Well I have so many questions, so many concerns about our "next" adventure that at times I feel I can't even breathe.
I remember this one particular morning that summer. I had got up before either of the children, a major accomplishment since they both like to watch morning cartoons. I went to grab my Bible and devotion book to read in the living room only to find them gone from their usual place. I marched out into the living room fully intending to harass my husband, who was still home, about taking my things. Instead he simply laid the Bible down he was reading, took me in his arms and gave me a great big "bear" hug. He never said a word. He just held me.
Honestly at that moment I felt like God Himself was holding me close to His heart. He wasn't telling me, "It will be all right Gina.". He wasn't even saying, "This is the path to take, walk in it." No, instead I felt like God was simply giving His anxious child a great big "bear" hug which said, "I'm here! Don't be afraid.".
There are many times in life that we become anxious. Maybe you are anxious because you don't know what the future holds for you. I can't calm your heart with words, but I believe that if you let Him, God can! He wants to give you a great big "bear" hug today! He wants you to release your worry over what the future may hold and He wants to remind you of just WHO it is that holds your future!
I encourage you today, if you are suffering from an anxious heart, get out your Bible and turn to Luke 12:27-30. Then go on to Philippians 4:4-7. Here it says this beginning in verse 6- "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
My wish for you today is that you will experience God's PEACE!
This particular summer was especially unsettling for me. My husband was an Associate Pastor at a church I had grown to love, when our Lead Pastor told us he was gently "pushing us out of the nest". He said that he believed my husband would make a great Lead Pastor. This was something we had not even discussed. We love teenagers, and had determined that our ministry was to be Youth Pastor's until we were well into our Senior Years. Well the whole process of leaving this town and church that I had grown to love and looking for a place to Pastor was making me a nervous wreck.
You see I often suffer from an "anxious" heart! My husband believes it's because I like to be in control of things, but let's not go there right now. I am one of those people who gets excited by the prospect of change, but then reality hits when the boxes begin to come out! I become anxious when I realize that I am leaving a place I've called home for four years, and wonder, just what is going to happen when we get to the new place, and WHERE is it going to be? You can hear my "anxious" heart even in my breathing! Sounds crazy right? Well I have so many questions, so many concerns about our "next" adventure that at times I feel I can't even breathe.
I remember this one particular morning that summer. I had got up before either of the children, a major accomplishment since they both like to watch morning cartoons. I went to grab my Bible and devotion book to read in the living room only to find them gone from their usual place. I marched out into the living room fully intending to harass my husband, who was still home, about taking my things. Instead he simply laid the Bible down he was reading, took me in his arms and gave me a great big "bear" hug. He never said a word. He just held me.
Honestly at that moment I felt like God Himself was holding me close to His heart. He wasn't telling me, "It will be all right Gina.". He wasn't even saying, "This is the path to take, walk in it." No, instead I felt like God was simply giving His anxious child a great big "bear" hug which said, "I'm here! Don't be afraid.".
There are many times in life that we become anxious. Maybe you are anxious because you don't know what the future holds for you. I can't calm your heart with words, but I believe that if you let Him, God can! He wants to give you a great big "bear" hug today! He wants you to release your worry over what the future may hold and He wants to remind you of just WHO it is that holds your future!
I encourage you today, if you are suffering from an anxious heart, get out your Bible and turn to Luke 12:27-30. Then go on to Philippians 4:4-7. Here it says this beginning in verse 6- "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
My wish for you today is that you will experience God's PEACE!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Stand by Your Man...Part Two!
Okay, so I come from a long line of Maine boat builders. Maybe that's why I LOVE Noah's wife so much. Here's a picture of my grandfather standing next to one of the fishing boats he built. Kind of neat huh?
I left off the last blog by saying that Noah's wife had her own faith in God. We all know the story, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was in a unique way a savior of mankind, but for Noah where would we be today? The Bible goes on to tell us that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people. God had an idea! He was sick and tired of the sin that was going on in the world He had created, and He had to destroy mankind. Yet when He looked on the earth he saw this righteous and godly man, Noah. He decided to save Noah and his family and start all over again. God spoke directly to Noah and told him what to do. He laid out the plans for the ark and told him exactly how He was going to destroy mankind.
All right so here it is, the standing by your man part! Imagine with me that you are living in a place where you have never seen the ocean, and you have no clue what rain is. Imagine that your husband comes to you and says, "God told me last night that I need to build an ark because He is going to send rain and make a huge flood over all the earth!". Remember you have no clue what rain is or a flood for that matter and you don't even know what a boat is! I am trying to get you to realize that Noah, his wife and the rest of his family must have been teased, ridiculed and mocked for what they were trying to do. People must have gathered in his yard just to see what the old "coot" was up to now.
They were evil people in that day, so they must have jeered at his wife when she would go off to the market. His son's must have been picked on at "school" for what their father was saying. Noah wasn't even quiet about his project from the Lord. In 2 Peter 2:5 it says that Noah was a "preacher" of righteousness. I have never met a quiet preacher yet, have you? Especially when he knows he has something to tell people to try and help save them from destruction. He was trying to convert the sinners before it was too late!
I have immense respect for Noah, his wife and family. They must have gone through some very trying times. They must have been looked on as crazy by the people surrounding them. I can just hear the people now..."Rain, we have never seen rain, what are you talking about?", or "Flood what are you talking about? This boat you are making is HUGE Noah, have you lost your mind?". Noah's wife must have been free from the bondage of other people's opinions! WOW, that's a gift! Free from the worry about what her parents would say, free from the worry of what her friends would think of her. Free to obey God no matter what!
Noah's wife must have been a woman of God. She stood by him even when she may have not been exactly sure of what he was doing. She had to have faith in God and in Noah. Nobody without faith could have done what she did. How could she have backed her husband in building a large ocean going vessel to escape a flood when she had never even seen rain? Without faith how could she have raised three sons with the constant sound of hammering in her ears as they joined daddy in his boat building adventure? How could she have stepped onto the Ark that fateful day and left nearly everything behind, knowing that the world she would come back to would never be the same? She must have believed that God could and would save them just as He promised! She may have even been aware before she married Noah that her husband to be was destined for a special service to God.
The most crucial thing to her faith was the fact that her eyes had to be fixed on the world to come after the flood. She lived and raised her family for more than half of her life in a world that was filled with sin and doomed for destruction. She had to teach her sons to stand up to the wrong things in her world and live for the right things! She must have known how easy it would be for her sons to cave into the temptations all around them. Isn't that what we are supposed to be teaching our children today? That this is not our final destination? This is just a temporary dwelling place! Don't become a slave to the things around you, but look forward to heaven!
Her family had to be close because they had to move further and further away from the beliefs and practices of the people around them. They also had to prepare for a time when there wouldn't be anyone else, except them. Here is where I could go on to discuss the three women that Noah's sons married, but my blog isn't about them. Again they are three nameless women but I believe that they had to have a strong faith in God too! Otherwise I don't think they would have made it on the boat! (I really love it that God often doesn't name peole in the Bible who do great things! I think He wants us to all realize that we are somebody!)
What courage and determination Noah's wife must have had to sustain her lonely position. To face the destruction of everything she knew. What spiritual strength would have been necessary to endure the hostility and ridicule that she must have faced? This woman a nobody? No, she must have been one of the greatest women to ever live. It doesn't matter that we may never know her name this side of heaven, she impacted the world's history forever.
Here are four things I believe that Noah's wife must have had:
1. She must have viewed life as an adventure to experience, not as a trial to be endured!
2. She must have kept herself ready! Preparing as best as she knew how for the upcoming adventure and trusting God for the rest!
3. She must have trusted her man as she followed him into the ark that day! Anticipating what God would do next!
4. She must have been a prayer warrior! I believe she had to have had that..."Cast your cares upon Him" mentality that says take it to God...and leave it with Him! Because you see I believe that she must have known this "floods" come and go in your life, But God is Forever Faithful!
It took team effort to pull off the ark. When all was said and done I believe that Noah realized he couldn't have done it without the help of his wife and sons. She had been as busy and as faithful to the call as he had been. Stand by Your Man...I couldn't help but think of this song when I was writing this message. Our men may not be perfect, and they may sometimes say and do things we wonder about. But God wants us to stand firm with them in the call He has given them! Think about Noah's wife today in a whole new way, and maybe even thank God that He hasn't called your husband to build a big boat in the backyard!
Blessings!
The Original Stand by Your Man Woman
A few years ago I preached a Sunday night message on a woman who I believe is probably one of the most overlooked heroines of the Bible. She has a place in Bible history. Many women in the Bible are never even named, just like this lady. So...let me ask this...have you ever heard a message on Noah's wife? Well I know that I hadn't even really thought about Noah's wife until I was doing some research on the internet and I came across a very interesting article on her.
Noah's wife is referred to five times in the Bible as just that, Noah's wife. No name just a description of who she is by being associated with another person. There is a whole message right there! How many times have I been referred to as Randy's wife, not Gina? Or Josiah's Mom? I know that when I was growing up I was forever labeled by my brother's, Gary's sister or Steve's sister. It really isn't a pleasant thing to be labeled that way. We all want to be noticed for who we are, not who we are related too. Okay, that was way off track let me get back to who I really am talking about.
In my research on Noah's wife I discovered that according to Jewish tradition the name of Noah's wife is Naamah, which means pleasant one. What a nice meaning. I think she had to be a pleasant woman to have to deal with what she went through. Noah's wife had an important part in a miracle of God. She was a somebody. I believe that she was just as much hand picked as Noah was. She had a purpose and a reason for being. She fulfilled her god-given role as a "helper" faithfully. She helped Noah during several hundred years of farming. She supported him during approximately 120 years of boat-building. She was with him for more than a year of zoo-keeping on an enormous houseboat, and many other things as well.
The world back then was a very different place than it is now. Disease as we know it was almost non-existent. It wasn't unusual for a person to be a first time parent at the ripe old age of 100. Of course back then we know they lived well into their 800's. Can you imagine that? The plant life was different, the atmosphere was different...and Facebook was not up and running!
Yet there are similarities to our world too. First of all the population was growing rapidly. Scientists guess there must have been around a billion people alive at the time of Noah. They were not cavemen either, they were rapidly developing many new skills, much like we are experiencing today with our technology that seems to change every few hours. The most important similarity however is the sin that existed in the pre-flood world, just like our world today. It seems like you can't even turn on the television without hearing about the violence and wickedness of this generation. We are truly living in a society that is much like the days of Noah. God was watching the world of Noah very carefully, and you can be sure that He is watching our's with just as much interest.
Noah's wife knew that her world was under God's judgement. Her husband had told her that God planned to destroy the earth with water because of it's sin (Genesis 6:13, 17). God also gave Noah specific directions for building an ark (meaning box) to preserve his family and the animals. I don't think she would have had a problem with any of this. Noah's wife was very much aware that her God had created her to be a helper to her husband.
Many women today believe that fulfillment comes from living a lifestyle that is independent and separate from their husbands, but the exact opposite is true! When a woman takes an active and supportive role as a wife she enables her husband to become all God created him to be and in the process God accomplishes His purposes and plans for them as a couple. The Hebrew word for helper means to provide what is needed or lacking. The idea is for someone to come alongside another and by her assistance and support enable that person to accomplish what could not have been accomplished otherwise. Noah's wife knew that God would have revealed His plans to Noah before her. She wasn't a nobody, but rather a real somebody fulfilling her feminine role! She obeyed God by submitting to her husband's leadership. The word says of Noah that he was a righteous man, and because of this she knew he would not have abused his position.
One thing I think we have to come to realize and remember about Noah's wife is that she had her own relationship with God. Her faith didn't hinge on Noah's faith....I'll write more about that in another blog!
Noah's wife is referred to five times in the Bible as just that, Noah's wife. No name just a description of who she is by being associated with another person. There is a whole message right there! How many times have I been referred to as Randy's wife, not Gina? Or Josiah's Mom? I know that when I was growing up I was forever labeled by my brother's, Gary's sister or Steve's sister. It really isn't a pleasant thing to be labeled that way. We all want to be noticed for who we are, not who we are related too. Okay, that was way off track let me get back to who I really am talking about.
In my research on Noah's wife I discovered that according to Jewish tradition the name of Noah's wife is Naamah, which means pleasant one. What a nice meaning. I think she had to be a pleasant woman to have to deal with what she went through. Noah's wife had an important part in a miracle of God. She was a somebody. I believe that she was just as much hand picked as Noah was. She had a purpose and a reason for being. She fulfilled her god-given role as a "helper" faithfully. She helped Noah during several hundred years of farming. She supported him during approximately 120 years of boat-building. She was with him for more than a year of zoo-keeping on an enormous houseboat, and many other things as well.
The world back then was a very different place than it is now. Disease as we know it was almost non-existent. It wasn't unusual for a person to be a first time parent at the ripe old age of 100. Of course back then we know they lived well into their 800's. Can you imagine that? The plant life was different, the atmosphere was different...and Facebook was not up and running!
Yet there are similarities to our world too. First of all the population was growing rapidly. Scientists guess there must have been around a billion people alive at the time of Noah. They were not cavemen either, they were rapidly developing many new skills, much like we are experiencing today with our technology that seems to change every few hours. The most important similarity however is the sin that existed in the pre-flood world, just like our world today. It seems like you can't even turn on the television without hearing about the violence and wickedness of this generation. We are truly living in a society that is much like the days of Noah. God was watching the world of Noah very carefully, and you can be sure that He is watching our's with just as much interest.
Noah's wife knew that her world was under God's judgement. Her husband had told her that God planned to destroy the earth with water because of it's sin (Genesis 6:13, 17). God also gave Noah specific directions for building an ark (meaning box) to preserve his family and the animals. I don't think she would have had a problem with any of this. Noah's wife was very much aware that her God had created her to be a helper to her husband.
Many women today believe that fulfillment comes from living a lifestyle that is independent and separate from their husbands, but the exact opposite is true! When a woman takes an active and supportive role as a wife she enables her husband to become all God created him to be and in the process God accomplishes His purposes and plans for them as a couple. The Hebrew word for helper means to provide what is needed or lacking. The idea is for someone to come alongside another and by her assistance and support enable that person to accomplish what could not have been accomplished otherwise. Noah's wife knew that God would have revealed His plans to Noah before her. She wasn't a nobody, but rather a real somebody fulfilling her feminine role! She obeyed God by submitting to her husband's leadership. The word says of Noah that he was a righteous man, and because of this she knew he would not have abused his position.
One thing I think we have to come to realize and remember about Noah's wife is that she had her own relationship with God. Her faith didn't hinge on Noah's faith....I'll write more about that in another blog!
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