God’s promise of protection for an obedient wife is evident and all it takes is a quick look in the Bible. But to properly talk about God’s promise of protection, I need to first ask you if you know the number one reason you wouldn’t obey your husband?
Would you believe me when I tell you that I know? I don’t even know you, and I am bold enough to make that claim. How do I know? Well, that’s in the Bible too.
Any ideas?
Let me riddle you in the right direction
You are afraid that whatever the outcome of the command is, it wouldn’t be the right one…
Maybe you are afraid that you aren’t going to be safe when you obey in a direction you wouldn’t have taken yourself…
Do you know yet what a wife’s reason for disobedience is?
IF YOU SAID “fear,” YOU are RIGHT! Now this post is not about fear itself, but I just cannot speak to God’s protection over wives without talking a little about it.
Fear is the leading reason wives aren’t lining up to obey their husbands. Most have no idea of this truth and broken Christian marriages tell us so. Even if wives are aware of this truth, most are so bound up and controlled by it, it is near-impossible to escape its snare.
like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. —1 Peter 3:6
So if fear is the leading culprit of disobedience for every wife, then what is it that she is fearful of?
We fear not being protected
It’s the conjuring in our minds that says:
- “When I do this, I won’t be safe.
- If I obey him with a joyful heart, the right decision will not be made.”
Any of those statements sound familiar? They sure do to me.
Note here that the danger isn’t even present yet, and fear is at work in the wife’s heart.
AS WIVES, WE OFTEN DON’T OBEY OUR HUSBANDS BECAUSE of this one thing!
We fear not being protected!
According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, protection is the act of being protected which is to be covered from exposure, injury, damage, or destruction.
Words meaning the opposite are assault and attack.
So if you are not under protection then it is safe to say that you are being assaulted or attacked, right?
What you fear as a wife
You being under assault or attack because of your obedience to your husband is simply NOT TRUE! Not because your husband makes the right decision every time, and not because I say it’s untrue.
Scripture doesn’t indicate this thought-pattern to be anything but false.
Two Examples of God’s Protection Over Wives Straight Out of The Word of God
This is our model as Christian wives, found in 1 Peter 3:6,
like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
What accounts is the Bible referring to when it says Sarah had the opportunity to fear but did not give way to it?
#1 Abraham, Sarah, & Pharaoh
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” —Genesis 12:10-13
I’m sure Sarah had a hesitation to fear in this moment. I am not certain but have a feeling that Sarah might not have agreed with the plan for many reasons. But what did she do? She obeyed Abraham DESPITE WHAT SHE MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
“Well, it is wrong to do something that I have very strong feelings against,” you might be saying out loud to yourself. Don’t I have any rights? Isn’t my opinion valuable?”
Of course. Give it to your husband and make sure he has the facts. Then step back and let him lead you. You might find very quickly as I did, that my husband wants to know what I think and oftentimes leads our family accordingly. Make no mistake though. It wont be every time and you are required by God to be happily ok with that!
But think about it
You have agreeing with our husbands in a joyful manner.
Or
Being controlled by fear that manifests in fighting with our husbands to get our way.
Which is wrong?
I can tell you one thing. It is never wrong to put your hope in God. Something trusting our husbands requires pretty much every time.
1 Peter 3:6 says…if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. So what scripture is saying here that it is wrong to give way to fear and it is right to obey our husband and put our trust in God.
We don’t know exactly if God used Sarah to save Abraham’s life or merely to advance Abraham. Scripture says in Genesis 12:16 that He (Pharaoh) treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. The point that I’m trying to make here is this:
God used Sarah to advance her husband (possibly protect him in the process) and God wants to use you too!
God’s protection for Sarah
But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. —Genesis 12:17-20
#2 Abraham, Sarah, & King Abimelech
And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. —Genesis 20:1-2
I’m sure there could have been a tendency to fear yet again in Sarah’s emotions here, but look and see what she did? She obeyed, DESPITE WHAT SHE THOUGHT ABOUT THE MATTER.
God’s protection was extended to Sarah
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”
And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” —Genesis 20:3-7
A Side note worth mentioning
Now this post isn’t about unbelieving husbands either nor saved husbands who lack faith, but I feel like I need to at least mention it to keep us on track here. I am not 100% sure that Abraham (Abram) believed as he ought to have when he told Sarah on those two occasions to introduce herself as his sister. In fact, I am almost certain that Abraham did not act the way he should have (this is an even BIGGER testament to us wives) and I am VERY CERTAIN that I do not know why God didn’t reprimand him for it.
In addition, there are definitive moments when you are commanded not to obey your husband. Different topic for a different day that I will address soon!
Despite these observations…
Scripture is very clear to us wives
God requires obedience from you and me towards our husbands despite our husbands heart-attitude.
Let God deal with your husband about his sin without any hindrance from you AND let God intervene on your behalf when your husband is wrong.
God’s protection has stipulations
Submitting and obeying your husband has got to be unto the Lord alone, otherwise it is something entirely different!
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, —1 Peter 3:1
God tells us wives that our husbands’ behavior nor state of salvation should EVER hinder our obeying Him or give us a reason to justify our disobedience. We obey God (through the act of submitting and obeying our husbands) because it is what He has commanded of us.
What Does God Command of me again?
Again our command as wives is found in Ephesians 5:22-24,
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
“Will I really be under God’s protection when I obey his command to submit to my husband and obey him?”
See for yourself that the answer is YES when you consider the scripture below:
if you love me, keep my commands. —John 14:15
if you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. —Isaiah 1:19
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? —Luke 6:46
but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. —Jeremiah 7:23
“I’m still on the fence with the whole, protection thing!”
Oh, there’s more!
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. —John 14:23
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. —James 1:22-25
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. —John 14:21
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. —Exodus 19:5
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. —John 15:10
If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. —Exodus 23:22
As we get closer and closer to the Word of God and cling ever so tightly to its life-giving truth, we cannot help but have our thought-patterns disrupted. My greatest hope is that God’s word is beginning to do that very thing in your own life.
Before we can begin building a strong marriage…
We need to destroy faulty buildings that will continue to prove faulty. I pray that you are beginning to realize that you are hidden beneath the shadow of God’s wings when you obey Him.
My prayer is that you are beginning to become freer with each of these foundational steps you are taking. Know that I am praying for you even now and know that God is with you with every step that you take!