A Picture of Eternity (Day 8)

I love that verse in Philippians chapter two that tells us, “It is God who is at work within you both to will,” that is to give you the desire that you wouldn’t have naturally, “and to obey to do God’s good pleasure” (verse 13, paraphrase).

What we’re seeing in this chapter is God’s good pleasure for us as women. I can’t live this way, but I can live this way because I have God who is at work within me giving me the desire, giving me the supernatural ability, to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.

That’s why I have to cry out to Him day after day, as you do, “Lord, I can’t live this life. I can’t be a woman of God. I can’t be diligent and faithful and loyal and all these qualities that we’re seeing in this passage, apart from You doing it in me.”

If this is Bathsheba teaching, then Bathsheba had learned the hard way, but what a picture of God’s grace to think that even a mother who’s come into a relationship, a marriage that wasn’t God’s original plan or intent or best—to think that God can redeem those situations!

Here’s a woman saying to her son, “There is grace even for people who have blown it, but learn from my example. Don’t follow in some of the steps that your dad and I took. Here are the things that you need to look for in a wife. Here’s the kind of young man you need to be as you go into marriage, and here are the qualities that you want to make sure are in the woman that you choose to be your wife.”

This is a woman who fears the Lord. She reverences God, and all the things she does, all her abilities and skills and homemaking activities, are birthed out of that heart and that reverence for God. That’s the core of the matter. That’s the heart of the matter, and so this mother says to her son, “Be the kind of man who’s worthy of that kind of woman, and then ask God to give you a woman who fits that picture.”

While we’re talking about this matter of orderliness and why it’s important to keep our homes in order. I came across a passage in a book by Susan Hunt, who’s a friend of mine, and has written some wonderful books on what it means to be a woman of God. This particular book is called The True Woman.

I want to share with you an illustration out of her book about why these things matter, why it matters that we learn how to keep our homes in order, why it matters that we learn how to keep ourselves in order. Susan Hunt says, “A friend of mine was discipling a young woman who was a major messy.”

They had worked on cultivating the disciplines of Bible study, prayer, and Scripture memorization. Then one day my friend said to this younger woman, "Now we have to do something about your house." The young woman was surprised.

“That doesn’t matter. My husband’s just as messy as I am. Neither of us would be happy without our clutter, and the kids would probably think they were in the wrong house.' But my friend persisted.

On Sunday the young husband talked with my friend and assured her that he was quite happy and really preferred things as they were. My friend still persisted. "This is an aspect of your discipleship," she told the younger woman. Then my friend marshaled the troops to help the young woman.

One woman in the church who had organizational skills spent a day helping her organize her cabinets and closets. Another taught her how to plan meals and shop with a list, and another taught her how to clean and how to delegate chores to her children. Then a woman helped her decorate her home. The transformation was remarkable.

Several weeks later the young husband again approached my friend. He said, "I didn’t think it mattered, but it does. I can hardly wait to get home now. Home has become a haven from the chaos of the world. The amazing thing is that I feel closer to my wife and appreciate her more than I ever could have imagined.”¹

Isn’t that a great illustration? “Home has become a haven from the chaos of the world.” You know what the word domestic means—domesticity? It’s kind of an old-fashioned word we don’t hear much anymore, and if we do hear it, it’s often not in a positive sense.

The heart of domesticity is a devotion to home life. It’s a heart for the home. When we are being domestic, when we are having a heart for our homes, for our environment, when we’re concerned about preparing and making available food and clothing for our family members, when we’re concerned about making our home look attractive and keeping it from being a place of chaos, but rather making it a place of order, we’re really reflecting the heart of the Lord Jesus.

Did you know that Jesus is domestic? You say, “That sounds kind of strange. What would make you think that?” Listen to this verse in John chapter 14. Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. . . In my Father’s house are many rooms. . . I am going there,” to do what? “to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2 NIV).

What is Jesus doing right now? He’s homemaking. So as women, when we are homemakers, we are creating here on this earth a physical, visible, tangible reflection of an eternal, invisible reality.

Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.” You see, when you’re making a home, you’re creating a place where your family’s hearts don’t have to be troubled. In this world their hearts will be troubled. This world is a messy, chaotic place, but you want to create an environment in your home—physically and also in the spirit of your home—that your husband wants to come home to and that he doesn’t have to trip over 17 things in the path to get there.

There are moments. If you have children, there are going to be times when your house is not all put together. It’s not all orderly, but the question is, do you have generally an environment that is orderly, that reflects an orderly heart, that’s not chaotic, that is a haven? If you do, then you are showing your children and your husband and your friends and your guests something that they cannot see now, and that is what God is preparing, what Christ is preparing for us in heaven—a place.

You’re saying, “I want you to get a glimpse of what you can experience in eternity—the heart of our Father who’s going to prepare a wedding feast for us there. As I prepare food for you now, I’m giving you a taste of heaven, and as I provide clothing for you now, whether it’s homemade or store bought, but as I’m taking care of your clothing needs as my family, I’m giving you a glimpse of heaven where we will be clothed in fine, white linen and how you can be clothed spiritually in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You see, through our homemaking we give those that we love a picture of Christ, a picture of heaven, a taste of our real home.