A simple directive for mothers: submit' commit, permit, and transmit
God’s Plan for a Happy Home
by Helen Frazee-Bower
and returned. Today there are countless women who are likewise running away from unhappy domestic situations. Many of them may seem to have just cause for complaint; but God’ s word to Hagar is also His word to women of today. Submit is the key word. Submit first to the voice of God, and then to the difficult cir cumstances, and He will unfold His plan and work it out. He who has himself ordained family life, is best able to direct it. No situation is too hard for Him. Submit — and He will make it plain. Hannah was the trusting mother. Here was another woman to whom God promised a son, and she, in turn, promised to give him back to God for His service. When little Samuel arrived, it must have been hard for Hannah to fulfill her promise. To look into the face of the child you had prayed for so long and then send him away from home was no easy task. But Han nah did not forget what she had promised God. She took Samuel to the temple. He was so little — I can see her stand Trembling, reluctant To let go his hand. Yet she was wise Earth-ties to sever: She chose not now, But the forever.
but by example as well. He not only says, “ . . . a woman that feareth the L o r d , she shall be praised” (Prov. 31:30) and “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6), but He also introduces us to various types of mothers. Let us look at four of these: the tested mother, the trusting mother, the triumphant mother and the tragic mother. Hagar, a servant of Sarah and Abraham, was the tested mother. We are all familiar with her story. God had promised Sarah a son in her old age. But Sarah and her hus band, Abraham, could not wait for God to fulfill His promise. In their eagerness they endeavored to help by arranging that Hagar should bear the child for Sarah. They ran ahead of God and trou ble followed. It always does. When Hagar had conceived she was de spised in the eyes of her mistress and fled from Sarah’s scorn. The sympathy of the reader is certainly with Hagar who, through no fault of her own, found herself in such an unfortunate situation. It would be so easy to say that she was quite right in fleeing. But what did God say? His word to Hagar was, “ Re turn and submit.” He who knows the end from the beginning, had a plan that was bigger than the cir cumstances, and Hagar must have her part in it. She passed her test
W e are living in a day of too many broken homes. Ma r r i a g e counseling is fast becoming a pro fession in itself, instead of a side line for ministers and doctors. Our current magazines, full of articles on how to save modem marriage, reveal the grave concern of even the secular world over this appall ing situation. The Christian should be even more concerned. With all due respect for, and gratitude to, the fine men of psy chology, psychiatry and medicine who are shouldering their respon sibility in this matter, the complete answer to successful family life can only rest with God. Good advice comes from man but the power to put such advice into practice can only come from God. Therefore let us look to Him. Does God have any blueprint for marriage, any direc tive for parenthood? He most cer tainly does. Let me approach this subject from the standpoint of God’s word to women, partly because I am a' woman, and partly because moth' ers, by the very nature of their task, have the best opportunity to mold family life to God’s plan. Their close association with the children in the home, while the busy father is out making a living, imposes upon them the larger re sponsibility. What is God’s direc tive for motherhood? God teaches not only by precept,
24
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker