Embracing Your Call As A Help-Meet - Lisa U Maki
I was clueless about the word "help-meet" until I read it in a book prior to my marriage. Since that book was not a guide for wives but was more about who we are as women, I didn't get much information about how to be a help-meet.
Let me begin by quoting the Scripture where we can find the word help-meet, in relation to marriage.
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him (Genesis 2:18).
The verses that follow speak a lot about being a help-meet.
19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
When we look at these two verses, we can see that God created the animals before the help-meet so that when the help-meet comes, she will have something to take care of and have dominion over, with her husband.
This shows that the role of the help-meet is to support her husband, with what God has already started in him, and not the other way around. Although the husband is called to support his wife, it is the role of the wife, as the help-meet, to meet the existing needs of her husband, and to help him fulfill what God has called him to do, a vision that God gave him long before he married you.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
These three verses above explain that we were created to walk side by side our husbands, not ahead of them or behind them. This is why we were called the help-meet.
In her book, CREATED TO BE HIS HELP-MEET, author Debi Pearl said that it is God's perfect will for us to be the help-meet that He has created us to be. This means that our first and primary calling as wives is to be the help-meet to our husbands. This calling comes before children, other family members, friends, work, and even ministry. Until we realize and embrace this primary call, we will never be at peace. We will be like fishes taken out of the sea or fish tank.
So many wives are frustrated, bitter, alone, and depressed because they have not embraced this calling as a help-meet. But how can they embrace such a calling if they don't even understand it? This is the reason why I am writing this article, to make you understand and eventually embrace this call.
As I've said, I myself didn't know anything about being a help-meet. No wonder I didn't have the fullness of peace and joy until I realized this. There I was seeking God for His perfect plan for me in ministry. I was asking Him to make my husband see what I was called to do. I was crying out to Him to change my husband's mind about certain things. I was pleading before God to make my husband understand the vision that He has given me.
I was a single, independent, self-sufficient single mom prior to my marriage. I had a big vision for my ministry. Prophets have prophesied over me that I will have a huge ministry. I was determined to make it happen. So I thought that my role as a wife was to fulfill the vision that God has given me, but this time, with the support of my husband. Isn't this the opposite of being a help-meet? But this is why it took a while for me to understand, more so embrace the calling of a help-meet.
And even after hearing from a marriage conference that my role as a help-meet is to support the vision that God has given my husband, I still thought I was to support him but still maintain my own ministry, separate from him.
To add to this growing distorted concept of a help-meet, I met a lady apostle/preacher who told me not to let go of the vision that God has given me. She said that my vision came long before I met and married my husband, and so I have to fulfill that and not let go of it.
I believe that this is the same understanding of a lot of women leaders in the body of Christ. In fact, I've met several lady pastors whose husbands are not even co-pastors with them, and their husbands are not even at peace with it. Their husbands just can't do anything about it because their wives want to be pastors, preachers, or church leaders.
The only time (and I have a very strong conviction on this one) that a wife is allowed to preach and teach, is if she has the full blessings of her husband, because he believes that this is going to help the ministry and vision that God has given him.
I didn't understand this then, which was why I was struggling maintaining the balance of being submissive to my husband and still asserting my right to fulfill the vision that God has given me. Now I know that my primary calling is to be the help-meet that God has called me to be for my husband... to adapt to him and his vision... to subordinate to him and the vision that He has given my husband... and to support him through the skills and abilities that God has given me.
In embracing this great calling as a help-meet, my husband is realizing more than ever, what my gifts and abilities are. He is also seeing, more than ever, the vision that God has given me. He is also giving me more liberty now to exercise my gifts and put it to great use.
See that?
Our obedience to God with regards to His command to us, wives, to be the help-meets to our husbands is for our own good. As I always say, "If we do our part, God will do His part".
Let me end this with a post I did on Facebook recently...
I have been in ministry for a long time now. I've had the privilege of being a Communications Director of a church, and the head of a women's ministry. I've had the privilege of establishing a ministry for women in prison, police camps, and corporate offices. I've been given the privilege to preach to hundreds and thousands of people. Likewise, I've had the privilege of being interviewed at TBN. Yet, nothing compares to my ministry as a wife... as a help-meet. This for me is my greatest calling ever, more so because I am married to a king.
Lisa Maki is the founder of God'z Gurlz, a Bible-based online magazine for women whose mission is to is to provide a place where women can learn to manage their emotions, experience healing, receive love and acceptance, be free to be who God made them to be, and be the best they can be in their homes, schools, professions, relationships, and calling, through sharing of insights and experiences, counseling, prayer, and devotionals, thereby learning from and supporting each other. For more of Lisa's articles, visit http://godzgurlz.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_U_Maki Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7313610