Men, Umbrellas and the Women who Help Hold Them Up

Does your man own an umbrella?  He may not own a physical umbrella but God has given him an umbrella of authority and protection to hold over his family.  This umbrella is the wisdom and discernment that God has made available to men.  It's their job to use what God has given them to protect and lead their wives and children.  Wives, it's our job to help and encourage our men to hold those umbrellas.  Their umbrella is held higher by them spending time with God through prayer and reading His Word.  When men falter in these areas, the umbrella falls, leaving the wife and children unprotected to some degree. Wives, when you fight against the godly leadership of your husband, you're stepping out from under the umbrella.  Stay close to your man.  Support and encourage him to be the man, the husband, the father God has called him to be.  Men, BE the man, husband, father that God has called you to be.  We need strong, godly men in our lives.  We need men who will lead.  We need men we can count on; men we know are praying for us and seeking God's best for us.

I know this can be considered controversial.  Some would balk at the idea of man's authority over his wife.  But that's the way God designed it to be.  It's not a bad thing.  It's a very, very good thing.  When the husband is seeking the Lord and following His leading, he's going to love and care for his wife in a way she could never imagine.  When the wife is supporting and encouraging  her husband the way the Bible tells her to, he's going to be even more eager to be the kind of husband she needs.  It's a win, win situation.  It's God's perfect plan. 

And when children grow up in this type of home, they model their marriage after their parents'.  They understand the concept of mutual respect and love; of sacrifice and giving.  These traits carry over into their other relationships as well.

I think if more men would take hold of their umbrellas, homes and families could be repaired and things could be different in this world.

What if your husband isn't an umbrella wielder?  Do the things you know to do!  Keep praying and reading and doing what you can.

A Pastor's wife shared this scripture with me many years ago:  1 Peter 3:1  "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives".

That means, no nagging!  It means quietly, humbly doing the things you know God wants you to do and let Him do the work on your husband.  Then one day, before you know it, you'll notice there's an umbrella over your head that wasn't there before.