Lux Vent Reading Group

The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
Chapter 2: A Wifes Understanding of God, God's Protective Authority

Leslie at Lux Vent is hosting a book study of this wonderful book. Please go to Leslie's website to find out the details and join us if you can.

My apologies for being so late with my post. My daughter and I have been battling head colds for the past week. Despite my foggy brain, I am ready to share on this weeks chapter. It begins by talking about our view of God, what is my view of God? Quoting Martha Peace

The God of the bible is the sovereign, just, and loving Ruler over all the earth and all His creatures. He is the potter and we are His clay. We are to bow in humble submission and adoration before Him...We are to serve Him, rather then Him serve us...Understanding your proper position as a creature serving the Creator is foundational to clearing up any mis-perceptions you may have about God and his protective authority over you.

Understanding that God is a sovereign, just and loving Creator is one thing, living my life to reflect that is another. Martha gives us her wisdom by giving us 3 topics to look at:

I- What wives need to know about God
II- What Wives need to know about themselves
III- How Goad designed this for their protection

I-Gods purpose for me as a wife is to be a helper suitable for my husbands. If I'm wondering what ministry God has for me, I need to look here first. I am to serve and glorify God by being a helper, suitable, for the one he has given to me as my spouse. How? Only with God's help. Scripture tells us,

Psalm 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.

The author tells us,

"Because God is Holy, His Care over (us) will always be good and righteous. (We) can completely trust him."

How wonderful it is to know that we do not have to do this on our own. I need to remind my self of this often. Gods has unlimited understanding and strength, he knows all about me what I want and most importantly what I need. Because His understanding is so great I can trust that whatever he allows in my life will be both best for me and give Him the most glory. That is something to meditate on. My joy as a wife will come when I realize that my loving and gracious heavenly Father has planned good things for me. I can be fulfilled and excited about this. The worlds view of a wife is so far from this; we get bombarded with their ideas everyday. But opportunities like this book study help encourage and strengthen us all.

II- For the Christian wife the focus should be, "Am I doing the good works that God has intended for me? If not, then why. Martha suggest that our fear is a factor, and I agree. For me it would be my fear of failure stemming from my pride (If I do this I may fail and people will know) and as the author puts it, "fear of not getting my own way" (not trusting that God knows what's best for me regardless of what I my think).
There is hope, the Christian wife does not have to sin; I have been set free by Christ work on the Cross, to think and do what is right. God's grace gives me this power.

III- The author brings this all together by telling us,

"the way that we experience this fulfillment is to actively choose to place ourselves under the authority of our husbands"

and in doing this we place ourselves in the protection of God. I doesn't mean that my husband will always make the wisest decisions, but it does mean that whatever happens God will be working in my life to conform me to His image and bring glory to Himself. Wow.
Why does the wife need protection, that's a question that usually doesn't get addressed much. But it is a question that is addressed in the bible and one I need to understand. We are all influenced by the world, and the Devil, but the bible also teaches me that "women are easily deceived,"read 1 Timothy 2:12-14. It may be tough to hear but it is so true. Through my own experience I can surely attest to this fact. In Gods infinite wisdom and for his own purpose he has created us, and He has provided a way to protect us. I for one am grateful.

This chapter has so much to say, I read it over twice and each time I saw something else. My only closing comment is that God has created such an order and a path for his people, the Christian wives, and it is my responsibility to know it and follow it. In becoming a wife and then a mother I have also agreed to do what is needed to best serve my husband and my children; I am thankful to be going along this path with other women such as you all.