The Ass (in reality)

Not ten minutes after my mountain top prayer morning in which the Lord tells me to be an ox does the first lesson come. And remember how I joked I was just grateful He didn’t call me to be the ass?!?!  Well, in the very first moments of my life as an ox-in-training I very much starred as the ass of the drama.

I was buzzing around the house with images of strong and mighty oxen on my mind. YES! I was an ox. My fields were fertile. My plow well yoked. Seeds a plenty.  Hoorah for the ox. To my knowledge I’ve never laid eyes on an ox, but suddenly my passion for cattle was overwhelming.

And that is when the Lord said, ‘WHOOOAAA’.  It wasn’t a cowboy whoooaa like you would expect a person with a herd of cattle in her mind to hear.

It was a fight. A knock-down-drag-out-icky-ugly-post-Christmas fight.  With the person I love the most.  Husband.

The details of the fight are not relevant. And as we all know,  the fight is never about what you are fighting about. What is relevant is how God used a very uncomfortable situation to get my attention.

Our voices were loud and ugly.  I was carrying on like an Oscar contender huffing and puffing, flailing laundry, tossing shoes, spinning around yelling, complaining and making absolutely no sense at all.   Feelings were hurt. Egos bruised.  And the reality is I was largely to blame for it all.  At some point my battle cry became ‘Then give me direction!’ And then I tossed around some more towels.

But Husband heard me and the Lord directed the rest of the drama.  Husband’s voice lowered and he calmly asked me to come in to his office and sit in a chair. I was tired and followed his direction.

“Close your eyes,” he told me.  I closed them.  My heart was racing, I wanted to peek, it was brutal sitting still while my mind was raging, spinning, angry. And then I realized Husband was giving me direction. I obeyed.  And it worked.  Tears streamed down my cheeks. My heart slowed. Anger subsided and love began to flow back through my veins.

Godly order. It’s been my prayer request for months.  And thanks to mighty prayer warriors who spend time on bended knee for me, it was answered. Husband took control as the head of our house.  I submitted to my Husband.  And it was tender and right.

Did you know that oxen work in pairs? I clearly did not.  And the Lord wanted me to know this important fact.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for teaching me the ways of an ox. Continue to work in me so you can work through me.

Show me how to love my husband and children, to be self-controlled and pure,

to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to my husband,

so that no one will malign Your Word. (Titus 2: 4)

Amen.