No Pain, No Gain

Genesis 3:16

To the woman he said, I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.”

God created Eve to be the woman to experience “the firsts” of everything. Before the fall, she experienced deep intimacy with Our Creator. The first woman to witness what Gods original plan looked for us.

After the first sin, God punished women during childbirth. He says he will make our pains very severe. I honestly think God could have been so much harsher with our punishment. When you think about it, childbirth is a temporary moment, the pain that you’re experiencing will pass and then you have a beautiful gift from God. I honestly look forward to experiencing that moment. Then, God says that our desire will be for our husbands and he will rule over us. This too is a punishment that doesn’t sound so bad. The Holy Spirit has pruned my heart into understanding the importance of submission and how beautiful it can be. I just pray that God sends me a man worthy of my submission. I know he will. The whole “girl boss” movement has tricked women into thinking that a man shouldn’t provide for them, that they’ve got it all by themselves. In reality, we have nothing all by ourselves. We need a Savior. I’m sure we can make due for as long as possible but this provider mindset has hardened so many women into becoming more masculine and it also holds intense pride.

I may have gone a little off track with todays devotional because I am pro allowing a godly man to lead me, this is what God intended. God created Adam to lead and care for the garden before Eve came along, that is their purpose! He created us women to be helpers for the men in our lives. Gretchen states, “the job of helper doesn’t get the respect it deserves - and it should.” I agree with this statement. The responsibility of a helper is SO important that Jesus tells us in John that the Father will send us an advocate to teach us things and remind us of everything Jesus has said to us. The Holy Spirit is the helper in our lives and we know how powerful the Holy Spirit is.

God, thank you for this series that Joby and Gretchen Martin created for us. I pray that I become more fruitful by the end of it. I pray that we can learn to become the holy woman you created Eve to be and that you’ll give us the words of encouragement to help the men in our lives. Help us glorify you by revering the men you’ve placed to lead and care for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

https://coe22.com/devotional/stand-firm-with-gretchen-martin-w1d4/