Why You Need Unshakeable Faith
I am constantly misplacing my hope.
And when I do, I find myself frustrated. I get tossed around by my circumstances and the people around me and I suddenly feel insecure. This never fails to affect my marriage in a negative way.
I forget that I am a precious child of God, safe and sound in His love for me. When this happens, I freak out and start looking for approval in the things of this world. The problem is, everyone else is also seeking approval so they don’t have time to make me feel better about myself.
Where my hope shouldn’t be.
My hope doesn’t rest in my children, a happy life, a good education, beauty, success, or my husband. These things will eventually disappoint me because they can’t fix what is broken inside of me. Only Jesus is able to handle that crazy mess.
Telling myself the truth.
My husband’s attitude can easily make or break my day. This is when I have to talk to myself about what is true, and remind myself that God’s view of me is the only thing that matters. Of course my husband will be impatient one day and affectionate the next. He is human and has ups and down. He is a source of strength for me, but not the source of strength. Knowing I am loved by God changes the way I interact with my spouse because I know I am secure.
1 Peter 3 starts out by encouraging women to respect and submit to their husbands. I think this is where I get tripped up. How can I submit to him without letting his behavior towards me affect me for the good or bad?
As I read verse five the word, “hoped” jumped out at me.
“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands.”
Hoped in God….
While Pinterest offers a billion ideas for self improvement, it’s an inside job. The key to inner beauty is that you hope in God. Once you have that in place, you are free to let go of the pressure to appear beautiful, because you finally understand you are beautiful. Once you place your hope in God, you are able to submit to your husband with gladness because you know you are loved and accepted. So whether your spouse is glad, sad or mad, your security hasn’t changed one bit.
Being loved allows us to love well.
Knowing God loves you makes all the difference, especially on those bad days when you feel rejected and unimportant. You can face your day with a smile in your heart because you know that God is there to strengthen you. You can trust in Him and triumph over fear.
In this place you find a quiet tranquility that produces unshakable faith. You are able to laugh at your future because you know God taking care of you. You become less demanding of others because you don’t have to fight for love anymore. And you find a joy you never imagined because a woman who places her hope in God is a free woman.
