As I was pulling out of the Walmart parking lot this morning, I caught a glimpse of God’s love, disguised as an older couple.
This precious couple had to have been in their seventies and their love was evident, even across a crowded parking lot.
I watched as the husband, in the light rain, stood on his wife’s side of the truck. In one hand he held an umbrella and in his other hand he held a footstool. She was clearly struggling to get out of this too-high-for-her truck and he worked patiently to steady the footstool, maintain the umbrella over her head and assist her out of the truck.
As I watched the scene unfold, the word protector immediately came to my mind.
I would love to be that couple in forty years.
I immediately felt the Lord ask me, “What are you doing to protect your husband?”
You mean my super-tough, once-a-Marine-always-a-Marine, could-squash-someone-like-a-bug-if-need-be husband?
Protect him?
My husband, who asked me just last night if I understood the hold I have over him as his wife?
My husband, who was once a precious five year old who loved Star Wars and airplanes, like my own five year old son?
My husband, who came into our marriage with his own set of baggage and issues?
God wants me to protect him?
Yes, he does.
Because as much as God cares about the things that hurt my heart, He cares about the things that hurt my husband’s heart. And, unfortunately, that sometimes come from “Yours truly.”
Our husbands are no less precious in God’s sight than we are.
So ladies, as foreign of a concept as this is, how are we going to go about protecting our husbands?
I wish I could give you a formula, but I’m not good at formulas. {Just ask Mr. Eastman my high school Chemistry teacher!}
I can give you this, though; it all comes down to selflessness.
Are we really willing to die to self?
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3
To do any of the things God’s word mentions here in Ephesians, we must be willing to die to self.
As wives, we each have a calling. I am called to be the best wife that I can be to Charles William Parris. You are called to be the best wife you can be to your husband.
How to die to self and protect your husband is going to look different for every couple. No two people are alike; no two couples are alike, either.
This is where you have to ask God to show you specifically and exactly what you need to do to accomplish protecting your husband and dying to your flesh.
Are you ladies ready to join me and step out so that we can live that life worth of the calling we have received?
Learning to protect my man,
Barb
