The Hidden Hand
There are theories about a Hidden Hand of influence in society. Discussing this with friends, we always considered this control to be politically motivated or greedy.
Never did we think the Hidden Hand in society was triggered by gender related causes… that is, until now.
Gentlemen, we are blind. We must realize there is a force beyond our imagination. This group is organized. We are against an invisible coalition with training and emergency support.
I am referring to the Women’s Advanced Affiliation, otherwise known as WAA. This secret women’s society is comprised of married women training and supporting other women soon to be married or in the newlywed stage of marriage. To my knowledge, which is questionable, no marriage is left untouched by this nefarious organization.
Let us consider “the look”. I do not recall ever getting “the look” before marriage, yet now my wife can bring sheer terror to my heart with “the look”. Years can be stripped from a man’s life with “the look”, grown men brought to their knees with “the look”, and a wide range of medical calamities brought on by “the look”.
There is no argument that can sustain the glaring reality of “the look”. Have we ever stopped to ask where “the look” originated? Who trained my wife with “the look”?
Our curiosity should not stop with the “the look”. We must not forget their most widely known tool of the trade and acronym of their group, the WAA! Perfected by the Queen of Comedy, Lucille Ball, we all witnessed how Ricky could never stand against her eye-watering, ear piercing whine. Do you think the women of the world missed how Ricky would cower under such a weapon?
There is also “the nod”, the cold supper, the starched underwear, and forced celibacy.
I am fortunate my wife does not apply all these strategies, yet I have heard many tales to make married men cringe. Such stories are the very fabric of nightmares, calling to our souls, and awakening us in the night with screams of terror choking us.
We must ask ourselves how the beautiful and innocent women we court and woe develop these sadistic tools. Husbands, we must counteract the attractiveness of WAA.
Instead of submitting to the hypothetical influence of this purely fictional alliance, we must change the order of our homes so we are the more appealing encouragement for our wives. Before you roll your eyes, we find the simple steps for this in Scripture.
When we read Ephesians, some men like to focus on 5:24 which contains, “…wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Yet how can we skip over the next few verses giving us the key steps to making this attractive to our wives?
Ephesians 5:25-27 provides good instruction to men in the way to lead our homes. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
This draws a parallel example for teaching, which in very simple terms puts our treatment of our wives in direct comparison to how Jesus treated the church, and continues to treat the church. As we recognize the past tense where Christ gave Himself for the church, then the present tense where He is cleansing the church, we see a likeness in our relationship with our wives.
In our marriage, we gave up our lives as single men and should be ready to sacrifice our physical bodies for the ones we love. The next part of the verse gives us instruction to give of ourselves in such a way to provide Spiritual stimulus to our wives and enrich them in God’s Word. Jesus is perfecting the church through Scripture and the teachings of the Holy Spirit, just as we should give in the same way to our wives.
The real kicker comes at the end: We should in every way present our wives to ourselves as radiant, without stain, wrinkle, or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. We do not see imperfections – whether there are any or not. If there is blame, it should be ours, as we must not have provided the support or communication to express our desires.
The world may see this as weak, but God sees this as strength. As Jesus loves the church, we should love our wives. As Jesus is kind and generous to the church, we should be kind and generous to our wives. As Jesus provided for the church, we should provide for our wives. As Jesus cherished the church, we should cherish our wives.
As men treat wives in the way of Ephesians 5:25-27, wives may be more inclined to respond in the way of Ephesians 5:24.
The hidden hand of influence in a marriage is not the heavy hand of a stern, overbearing man, but the loving, cherishing hand of a man embracing his wife.
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Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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