Women/Wives, how to serve with honor in a difficult situation

Serving with honor in your position of authority.

Many women find themselves serving a position, identifiable as the responsibility of a husband or father. If the husband/father is available but for some reason incapable or unable to fulfill their role or responsibility for the position, the women often end up bearing the burden of the position. This can bring about many feelings, sometimes these feeling can be negative in nature due to the circumstances of the situation and the woman’s understanding or lack thereof in the position that she is serving.

[The aim for this teaching is to assist women in better understanding their position of authority, as well as give them the confidence to serve as God has graced them and to also guard themselves from the many pitfalls that often comes as a result of serving the responsibilities of a position without understanding the full authority that the position grants.]

I pray that as we move forward, that our heart is open to hear, understand and receive the revelation that God has given for us, to walk in the fullness of what He intends in order for us to prosper as women and to succeed in the challenges ahead.

The Significance of Our Identity.

One of the greatest revelation in understanding our identity as a woman is knowing that the vision of God is fulfilled in mankind when we understand the power of our position and being obedient to it.

The most significant part of our identity is wrapped up in the reason we were created as women, to serve as a help to man in fulfilling the vision of God in mankind. ( King James Version, Genesis 2:18).

Genesis 2:18, 21-24 King James Version (KJV)

18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

The fruitfulness of man and mankind is in the woman submitting to her position.

Genesis 1:27-28 King James Version (KJV)

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

[When we refuse to submit to our position, we are refusing to submit to the will of God and to serve as God intends; by this we create an avenue for the enemy to come in and destroy what God intends to succeed.]

Imagine all women deciding not to submit in any fashion to their position of authority. This would result in the failure of families and mankind as we know it. The same goes for man not submitting to their position of authority. We continue to thrive because their is submission taking place.

Serving the position is not the same as serving as the position.

If you were never given authority to carry the position, you are not in the position, you are a servant to the position by carrying out the responsibilities that is set under the position.

For example, judging and serving in the position of a judge is two different things. Anyone can judge but not everyone can be a Judge.

A woman cannot be a father and a mother, but she can be a mother serving the position or responsibilities meant for a father, but that does not make her a father and the same can be said for a father.

When we fail to submit to our position in the right spirit we leave room for the enemy.

Resentment, anger, bitterness, controlling, disrespect, disobedience are all characteristics that can develop as a result of not serving in the right spirit.

His Grace is Sufficient

God has graced us as women to service the position of authority placed over us to the fulfillment of the vision of God without the burden of answering for the position. Service to our husbands position of authority is not serving in his position of authority.

God did not create us to forsake our position, if we fail to serve in our position we create confusion. There is a reason why God created different positions of authority. If each position fail or refuse to do its part, eventually death would be the result. This process will take time but it will happen unless there is a realignment of what God intents.

If there is an absence of leadership by the husband, God has graced us (wives) with the ability to serve where the other is failing to serve. For example Zipporah, Moses wife had to do what Moses failed to do, as a result Moses life was spared. The believing spouse sanctified their home. There is nothing wrong with a woman caring, or providing necessary care needed for her family, the problem comes in when she abuses her position and circumvent the order of the home, meaning placing a lesser value on the position based on the person serving in the positions behavior or lack of performance. The same goes for the husband, that is why we must submit one to another, we must appreciate the other's position and give honor to the position accordingly.

God gave both man and woman authority but with any structure of leadership, there must be an order.

For example, imagine having two presidents, how effective would they be serving in the same position at the same time, that would create confusion. That is why we have a Vice President, to service the position if the president is incapacitated. During such instances the Vice then takes up the responsibility until the leader can lead again serving as acting president. The Vice President position is not the President’s position. The position is the position, the difference in this scenario is that the individual serving in the position of Vice President is not eternally tied to the position. We are created beings, man and woman are tied to our position down to our DNA, naturally and spiritually, so even when we service the position of a husband or wife, we still carry the authority that God has given us since creation. We may desire to change our acting role of service but that does not change our position of service.

Many creatures can act or mimic the behavior or position of another creature that does not make them as such. A woman can act like she is a man, but that does not make her a man. A man can act like he is a woman but that does not make him a woman.

If there is work to be done, God will not delay the work, He will use a willing vessel. So you can serve in certain capacity within a family dynamic from your position of authority. If a husband is incapacitated in any way, or unable to serve, do you as a woman let your family not receive the service he should provide when there is work to be done? No, our role is to help meet the demands of the position we serve in and are a service to. That is when God’s grace comes in. (See Reference)

2 Timothy 1:5New Living Translation (NLT)

5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.

Paul made a note of Timothy’s grandmother and mother’s faith that influenced the faith that he carried within him.

The Work Must Go On

Going back to Zipporah, if she did not do what her husband should have done Moses would be absent from the Exodus story and his generation or seed because according to God's covenant he would have been cut off and not be a partaker of the promise.

Remember honor the position, you do not have to be out of order because you are covering certain areas that your husband should. Love covers, why would we want our family to fail, or our husbands, so we continue on with the vision of God for the family (to be fruitful and multiply) until he can take up his mantle. We are created to help him after all, not condemn him, nor him us. We are vision carriers, we help to carry out the vision that God has for us. Blessings.