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by Kevin Pauley
Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. - Genesis 3:6-7 HCSB
My wife has a nasty side. She will reach into the fridge, pull out the milk, sniff it suspiciously and after making horrible faces and nearly gagging, she’ll call out “This milk smells awful! Here – smell it!”
She’ll taste something, scrunch up her face, spit the offending food out and immediately say, “Ew gross! Here taste this!”
No! I don’t want to! Why in the world would she want to share that with me? What did I ever do to her?
The need to share experiences is evidently hardwired into the female psyche. Women are much more in tune with their emotional side than men are. They are much more creative and far more capable of thinking outside the box than most men. In fact, I’m not entirely sure that women even realize that there IS a box! Men are much, much, much simpler creatures. We thrive on straightforward commands that require mindless obedience. Odds are, if women don’t understand men, it’s because they’re thinking too hard.
Women are like bull fighters. They can take a big, powerful, sweaty animal and with just enough barbs placed exactly so, turn it into a shuddering, bleeding mass of bewilderment. Because of their emotional facility, women know exactly how to push male buttons. They can say the most innocuous thing in exactly the right tone so that the poor vulnerable male is left wondering what to do.
What a tremendous amount of power! What an awesome responsibility! Eve had this power over her man. He was created before her. He was the one that was given the command. Yet, when she took of the forbidden fruit and ate it, she was able to use her clout to convince her husband to eat of it too.
Each of us has a sphere of influence, even we lowly males. We all are capable of saying the right thing at the right time in the right way to cause others to either act or stand still. We can make or break each other’s days with a simple smile or a disgusted “Harumph!”
We have influence, but what are we doing with it? Are we, like Eve, succumbing to the Devil and swaying others saying, “Here, try this”? Or, are we leading others to the Christ as Andrew led Simon to the newly discovered Messiah?[1] Are we acting as peacemakers and helping leaders establish their ministries according to God’s will like Abigail?[2] What are we doing with our power to impact others?
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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