Sacred Influence Read Online Free PDF Page A

They stopped “playing the game” and made it clear to their husbands that they were determined to stand strong in the Lord. As noted earlier, too many women have given up this power to influence their husbands because they fear being left alone. “If I say, ‘No more,’ he may leave me. Then what?”
    Consider this: what if he stays and then grows in the Lord because of it?
    Has your past acquiescence ever changed anything ? If not, why should it change anything in the future? God’s provision and strength will help you face the consequences of obedience. God won’t leave you alone, regardless of what happens. God, not your marital status, defines your life.
    Embrace this freedom and the glory of being a strong woman who is alive to God! God has given you the power to influence your man. But even if your man should leave, God will give you the grace and power to cope. Once you fully understand your status before God, you need never again live at the mercy of a man’s approval. Understand the power you have, and utilize that famous “mystery” of a man with a woman (Ephesians 5:31 – 33).
    Dr. Melody Rhode sees the threat of a husband’s losing his wife as perhaps the greatest possible motivator for a husband. Of course, we have to place this within the context of a covenantal, committed marriage. The Bible is very specific and very limiting regarding what constitutes an acceptable divorce. Discontentment, seeming incompatibility, and mere displeasure don’t qualify! Melody points out, “A woman’s power needs to be surrendered to God and used for his purposes, not our own.”
    She also stresses, however, that most women, because of our culture, don’t realize the power they have to move their husbands. “They feel powerless because of their sex,” she observes, “and this has resulted in a lot of pent-up anger, frustration, and even desperation.” As your brother in Christ, I’m encouraging you to be bold, courageous, and strong. Use the natural and very real spiritual in-fluence and role that God has designed for you to move the man in your life.
    Be Bold
     
    The first thing so many women in the Bible had to be told was to stop being afraid, to become bold. When Hagar was abandoned by her husband and exiled to what looked like her and her son’s slow starvation and death, God’s angel encouraged her, “Do not be afraid” (Genesis 21:17). When the women who had been faithful to Jesus were beside themselves with grief, wondering what had happened to the body of their precious Jesus, an angel admonished them, “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:5).
    I know I may sound as though I’m encouraging you toward risky action, but the “safe” path is sometimes a slow drift toward destruction. One of my favorite Christian philosophers, Elton Trueblood, put it so well:
The person who never goes out on a limb will never, it is true, have the limb cut off while he is on it, but neither will he reach the best fruit. The best fruit which human life offers seems to come only within the reach of those who face life boldly . . . with no excessive concern over possible failure and personal danger. The good life is always the gambler’s choice, and comes to those who take sides. Neutrality is seldom a virtue. 1
    Fear gives birth to paralysis — and sometimes inaction is our greatest enemy. Marriages can slowly die from years of apathy. I’ve seen many relationships wilt from unhealthy patterns that one or both partners refused to address. The most damaging thing you can do in an unhealthy relationship is nothing . FedEx CEO Frederick Smith observes, “Too many think inaction is the least risky path. Sometimes action is the most conservative and safest path. Not doing anything is exceedingly dangerous. Before Pearl Harbor, they put all the airplanes in the middle of the airfield thinking saboteurs were the biggest risk, not a carrier-borne attack. They were undone by cautiousness, not bravado.” 2
    If you always