Even Till

I wait.
Dear Lord, Thy ways
Are past fnding out,
Thy love too high.
O hold me still
Beneath Thy shadow.
It is enough that Thou
Lift up the light
Of Thy countenance.
I wait-
Because I am commanded
So to do. My mind
Is filled with wonderings.
My soul asks "Why?"
ut then the quiet word,
"Wait thou only
Upon God."
And so, not even for the light
To show a step ahead,
But for Thee, dear Lord,
I wait.

-Elisabeth Elliot

"Sometime"

Sometime, when all life's lessons have learned,
And sun and stars forevermore have set,
The things which our weak judgments here have spurned,
The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet,
Will flash before us out of life's dark night,
As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue;
And we shall see how all God's plans are right,
And how what seemed reproof was love most true.
Then be content poor hear;
God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold;
we must not tear the close-shut leaves apart,
Time will reveal the chalices of gold.
And if, through patient toil, we reach the land
Where tired feet,with sandals loosed, may rest,
When we sall clearly see and understand,
I think that we will say, "God knew the best!"

-May Riley Smith-

Silence isn't always a bad thing.

     So yesterday during my class at church I was looking over Genesis 2 and 3. I noticed something rather intriguing. Someone somewhere has probably noticed this before but I've never heard it myself. You see in Genesis 2 God makes man, Adam and He takes him, puts him in the garden to tend and keep it. Then God command Adam, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." I can picture Adam all wide eyed and bleary, having just been created will do that to you. He nods, understanding but obviously not quite hiding the words in his heart since we all know how the story ends. Anywho, the very next thing God says is that man shouldn't be alone so He makes all the creatures but none of them would do for our first man. He's a star, a hero of sorts, the leading man and well, God knows our leading man needs a leading woman, a heroine, a damsel to save...that sort of thing. So God knocks Adam out, takes a rib and forms it into our wonderful mother of all humanity, Eve. Adam wakes up, sees this beautiful woman, claims her, calls her "woman." So we're all feeling good right now. I'm thinking sweet. God created these two great people. They have awesome communion with Him, they know His voice clearly, they experience Him in the most purest way possible. The thing I noticed was that Moses never speaks of God telling Eve to not eat of the tree. He tells Adam rather straight forwardly but He is shown to have told the same thing to Eve.
    Perhaps this wouldn't be a big deal until you re-read chapter 3 with this realization. Verse one starts out, "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field...and he said to the woman, "has God indeed said..." First of all, the Word states Satan was cunning. He knew exactly who he needed to attack first to create the downfall of humanity. He knew the weaknesses of Adam and Eve. He goes straight to Eve planting the small seed of doubt, "did God REALLY say that...?" I can just see Eve's thought process. "Well, I'm not really sure. God didn't actually ever tell ME not to eat of the tree. Adam just said that's what He said but perhaps my husband got it all wrong...." Yet, holding on to the fact that Adam said God has said it she tells the serpent what's what. "...God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Good for her! She tried!
   Our evil villian says to our unsuspecting heroine, "You will not surely die! For God knows that in that day...you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Eve's face must have been one of such innocent surprise. "What?! God is keeping something from me? Why would He do such a thing? Oh Adam must have misunderstood Him! Besides my dear is standing right beside me and not speaking up....hmmm maybe this slithery guy's got something..?" She takes the fruit, eats it, hands it to her silent hubby and he, in his absolute betrayal to not only his wife but also his God, takes a bite.
   (Now as a qualifying statement, in no way am I saying this what Adam and Eve thought. It's just a revelation that God hit me over the head with mixed with some of my imagination.)
   Ok. So stay with me. How many times have men been told things by God that their wives, mothers, and sisters were not privy to? How many times did God tell Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, just to name a few, things that He is not recorded to have said to the women in their lives? Yet, here's the thing that blows me away....these women followed them! Now, here's where I come in and perhaps you. If your husband, father, or male spiritual leader told you to do something because that is what God told him to do and thus you must follow...will you obey even if God never directly spoke to you about it? Will you, as Sarai did, pack up everything you had to leave the only thing you ever knew? Would you, as Martha had to learn, respect the male authority in your life enough to keep your mouth shut even if you don't agree with his decisions? Or what about Mary? She had to pick up and move several times with Joseph but God only spoke to him through his dreams.
  Talk about one tough challenge. Can I, as a rather independent woman, follow, obey, and trust the male leaders God has placed in my life without questioning their wisdom and their ability to hear God? Can I keep my doubts at bay just because God didn't deem it necessary to reveal it all to darling little me?? Heavy stuff for us women. In this day women are taught to do it all on their own but I wonder if God really wants it that way? If so then why does God tell us to submit to our husbands? Why do all these women in the Bible obey without rebellion? I'm sure they had a few questions. I'm sure they had to pray through many times but in the end they obeyed. They didn't allow Satan to plant a seed of doubt just because they hadn't heard God directly. They didn't as, Lot's wife, turn back in rebellion to, not only her husband, but God, holding on to the home that would be destroyed.
  I just don't want to be like Eve or Lot's wife. I want to be like Sarah (well to an extent,) Rahab, Ruth, Esther, and Mary. Women who trusted God in their men so much they were willing to do whatever was necesary to support them.
  I realize that the men have to prove themselves...but again to an extent. It sure helps but what about when they aren't exactly on top of everything? Does that discount their God ordained leadership? Do mistakes on their part make it okay for us to listen to the rebellious whisper of Satan and to rebel against God? I don't think so.
  It's just a thought, a rather long one but a sincere one.