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INTRODUCTION
Hello. I’m Karen Welch, the ministry director for Aslan Roars. You may have noticed that I have posted a few devotionals when Bishop Chuck could not write one. For some time now, God has been nudging me to share with others what He is teaching me, and we have been praying about how I should do that. In the past, I have thoroughly enjoyed facilitating small women’s groups in my home, where we would explore the Word together and pray for one another. Though that’s what I’m most comfortable with, God has not opened that door again. It occurred to me, more than once, that God might want me to share in a written form, but writing is not easy for me. After kicking at the goad long enough, I am finally jumping in to try my hand at writing short devotionals in my own unique style. I am not a scholar or theologian, and I’ve often heard it said that I don’t think like most people, so these devotionals won’t be what you are used to, but I am trusting God to use them in some way.
I will be trying to write a devotional once a week for the Aslan Roars’ website and posting it on a day that Bishop Chuck doesn’t post. They will be titled Wonder-full Things so that you can quickly differentiate them from the One Thing devotionals that Bishop writes. Thank you for taking this journey with me. I pray that it will be a blessing for both you and me.
DEVOTIONAL
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her
Ephesians 5:25
For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. Matthew 6:33
I, Karen, am learning another lesson from my married/widowed friends. In helping a widow friend of mine, I realized how much she and her husband had divided up the responsibilities of everyday life. I asked her a question she did not know the answer to, and she responded with a little dismay that her husband always took care of that. While she struggled with not knowing things, I found myself marveling at how stunningly beautiful their union had been. I saw this picture of spouses together sharing life and sharing responsibilities, sharing the load for one another. She was feeling the loss because together, they had truly shared life.
I asked myself, “Why do I know the answer to that question for my stuff?” The reason was that I have had to learn a little bit about everything since I have never been married. That is in no way a complaint, just a fact. If I do not do it or learn about it, it does not get done. As a result, I know enough about things to get by but expert in none. I have to admit it puts me on shaky ground sometimes when I do not know who’s information about a subject to trust. (I am so thankful I have Christ.)
In a godly marriage, no one spouse has to be an expert at everything but can be in some things. If one pays the bills, the other might do the shopping. If one knows about the furnace, the other might know about insurance. If the water heater breaks down, one might take care of getting it fixed and then tell the other the amount of the bill they need to pay. The one paying the bill does not have to know all the details of having the hot water heater repaired; they can simply trust their spouse and pay the bill.
It gave me insight into a part of the picture of living in Christ. There are many things that we do not have the answers to as we walk through this life in Christ. That is OK because He does. He knows and can be trusted. When He tells us to pay the bill, we can rest in His expertise in the matter and just do our part. I can live in the unknown and the mystery because Christ is even better than a trusted spouse who has expertise in areas I do not.
When theologians debate some point, I do not have to be able to sort it all out. I can peacefully live in the mystery, trusting God will reveal what I need to know, and what I need to know may be way different from what someone else needs to know. He knows me, and He knows the plans He has for me. I can live on a “need to know basis” and just marvel at the mystery of the rest. I can be at peace in my union with Christ. He will look out for the things concerning my life.