Womanhood in the Home

Bible Passage: Ecclesiastes 2

INTRO

“Soma Church exists to love the body of Christ and equip them to do the work of ministry here, near and far, all for the glory of God.”

In 1986 a young pastor by the name of John Piper shook the christian world by publishing what has become his most well known work “Desiring God: The Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.”

If you are unaware of what hedonism is, Webster Dictionary defines hedonism as: “the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life”

This book became the subject of much controversy as church people couldn’t seem to reconcile hedonism with christianity.

People questioned, how mans pursuit of pleasure and happiness have anything to do with a pure worship of God?

What Piper asserted in his book and to this day in his teachings is that mans ultimate pleasure or happiness can only be found in God.

He sums up this idea succinctly in the book when he says this: “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Today, we are in week 5 of our series on Family called Sacred Ground and we are going to talking about what it means for a home to have a godly presence of a woman…

And I want to address that topic this morning in light of Pastor Piper’s statement which I believe to be true but seems to be experientially lacking within the hearts of Christian women as a whole.

As my wife and I have conversations with women, as I hear from other pastors and hear about the things women in their churches struggle with and as I keep my finger on the pulse of the church as a whole, I do not see a generation of women who are glorifying God because they are overwhelmed by His love and goodness in their lives.

I would say generally, that most women are struggling with feelings of discontent, tiredness, confusion, and a deep wonder if this is all that there is.

On top of all of this, I believe that women maybe even more than men are facing cultural pressures from voices that scream very loud about what women should do and be…

“Should I put on a pant suit every day if my life and go build a career for myself? Should I be barefoot in the yard as me and my 7 children collect eggs every day? How do I keep my body young and beautiful so my man will stay attracted to me? I know God gave me these kids but I feel like they are holding me back from being me. Am I focusing enough on myself? Am I focusing enough time on my family?”

So what is the answer? Which one of these intrusive thoughts should you be giving license to?

How about none of them?

Go with me to Proverbs 31 and let me show you what I am talking about.

BODY

Proverbs 31 is a very prolific passage that we often look to when talking about what it means to be a godly woman

This is a proverb or a teaching of wisdom given to a king named Lemuel by his mother about what to look for in a woman…

in this teaching Lemuel’s mother tells him many things that a woman of God should be but just to highlight a few…

Proverbs 31:10–11 “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.”

Proverbs 31:13–15 “She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.”

Proverbs 31:16–17 “She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.”

Proverbs 31:20 “She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.”

Proverbs 31:25–29 “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.””

In case you missed it, the proverbs 31 woman is a lot of things

she is hard to find, she is a businesswoman, she is a hard worker, she is a deal maker, she takes care of her body and is strong, she is benevolent and kind to the poor, and she is praised by those closest to her.

If we were to stop there, that would lead us to believe that a woman who is worthy of honor is one who does a lot of things.

Which I believe is also a lie of today’s culture that a woman’s value comes from her ability to produce.

But the rest of the Proverb tells us why this woman is so special…

Proverbs 31:28–31 “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.”

Her own husband says all of those things that you are pass away but the thing that is most beautiful about you is your fear of God.

All of things that this woman does are not ends in themselves, they are not her identity, they are outcomes.

Outcomes of a woman who is caught up in the love of the Father. A woman who is satisfied in the fact that her identity is not what she does but what Christ has done for her.

Women, are you getting the cart before the horse? Are you defining yourself based on what you do vs whose you are?

Are you secure in your identity in Christ and then from there asking the Spirit of God what He would have you do to glorify His name and leverage your life?

The first woman I think of that embodies this in my life is my bride…

We have been together since the fall of 2018 and in those 7 years she has been highly successful in sales, a gifted office manager, and now a full time mother and homemaker.

But the thing that defines my love for her and her true value is her silent faith, trust and satisfaction that is tied up in Jesus.

No matter what it is that she is doing, no matter how gifted at it she is, she is first and foremost secure in her identity as a daughter of the King.

As her husband, I don’t need her to be a boss babe or the pioneer woman, I need her to rest in the fact that she is ok in Jesus.

Ladies, do you truly believe that you are ok in Jesus? Do you believe that you are defined by a God who made you and knows you and not what you do or don’t do?

Do you believe Psalm 139:13–14 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Do you believe Isaiah 43:1 “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

Do you believe 1 John 3:1a “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

Do you believe Colossians 3:3 “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Do you believe Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Do you believe Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Do you believe Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

Do you believe 1 Thessalonians 1:4 “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,”

Do you believe Deuteronomy 7:6 ““For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

Do you believe Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Ladies, do you believe this morning that you have not been created to be a mother, wife, friend, home maker, business woman, model, and mentor?

But you have been created to be loved, known, accepted, redeemed, called, set apart, valued, transformed, secure, dignified and effective because of what Christ has done for you on the cross.

God is not concerned with what you do… He wants your heart.

Do you want His?

CLOSING

The wisest person to ever live wrote a book in the Bible called Ecclesiastes and he gives the ethos of the book in Ecclesiastes 1:13–14 “And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”

He says that everything that humans do under the sun is all vanity.

but look at what he says at the end of chapter 2

Ecclesiastes 2:24–25 “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

Ladies, everything you do that is not centered around an enjoyment of God will be like trying to grab the wind.

Some of you are sabotaging your marriages, futures, families because you are more concerned with the outcomes of your life than the purpose of your life… to know and to love Him.

What if this week you took time to discern if what you do has come from Him or your flesh? What if this week you were more concerned with enjoying Jesus than being somehting you think you need to be.

Your friends, family and church will be better for it.

God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him.

PRAY