It Really Is Okay to Spy!
I love a good spy movie! I’m intrigued with Hollywood’s romanticized portrayal of secret intelligence operatives who scan crime scenes, analyze clues, vet leads, exploit assets, assume undercover personas, and utilize futuristic technology to coordinate multi-state and even international black ops, all in the name of outsmarting criminals and maintaining national security. In the safety of a Hollywood studio, I think it would be so much fun to be an agent! In real life, that’s exactly what today’s Proverbs 31 target calls us to be.Target ELEVEN: Diligently watching over our households.She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness (27).The phrase “watches over” in verse twenty seven literally means to be a spy, giving us biblical authority to be secret intelligence agents in our own homes and with our families! Metaphorically speaking, we are to be well-trained, highly alert operatives who survey people and places, collect information, check sources, evaluate data, and conduct covert missions for the well-being and security of our families and homes.We’re the female version of “Big Brother is watching,” with eyes and ears everywhere! It’s our job to know what’s important and what’s not; what’s a distraction and what’s not; who or what is shaping our values; what serves God and what works against everything He’s trying to do in our lives and families; what we need to say “No” to and what’s worthy of our time, investment, husbands, and children.It can be exhausting, especially with the pressure to be involved in all the right activities with all the right people multiplied by the number of people in our households, but we must be committed to actively monitoring who is where, doing what, saying what, and with whom, assessing and neutralizing threats, especially with the constant onslaught of electronic temptations and the perversion and dangers that lurk therein.We need to be intercepting and cracking code by watching expressions, body language, interactions, and reactions. Like when a child says, “That’s okay,” when the family declines their invitation to play games together, but walks away with their head down and tears swelling in their eyes. Or “Nothing’s wrong,” really means everything’s wrong. Maybe your normally happy pre-teen or teen is abnormally sullen or withdrawn, or food is being fingered but not eaten. Perhaps their social media world has become more important or exciting than real life, or you’re seeing more of your kid’s closed bedroom door than their face.Do we know how our husbands and children are feeling or what they’re struggling with? Are they tired, hungry, lonely, insecure, confused, overwhelmed, underappreciated, rejected, or left out? Are circumstances weighing them down, or are they dealing with heart issues?Sometimes, our work is clandestine, perhaps alone or with others who have the expertise, intelligence, or tools we need to effectively diffuse threats. Other times, we need to be busting down doors and take situations by surprise in order to rescue our loved ones from danger.Either way, there’s no room for sluggishness, laziness, or turning a blind eye. It doesn’t take terminal negligence for Satan to get a foothold in our family, just a tad bit of idleness will do, “because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He never takes a break, and neither can we.Regardless of the mission or its target, if we’re not actively involved in and paying attention to our husband’s lives, interests, and hobbies or our kids’ friendships and activities, we’re going to miss the very intelligence they need us to have to make a difference in their every day.We are CIA: Concern in Action. We can’t be tuned out or distracted with our own lives and have little or no idea what’s going on in theirs. We can’t allow ourselves to become too stressed or exhausted to have what it takes to care that moment, that day, or that season of their lives.So how do we carry out this mission impossible?
- Maintain constant communication with the Director of Intelligence: God Himself, who is everywhere all the time and whose eyes “are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3).
- Cast or literally throw our cares, burdens, and anxieties upon the Lord, our strength and shield (2 Samuel 22:3), because He cares for us, sustains us, and never allows the righteous to be shaken or overthrown (I Peter 5:7, Psalms 55:22).
- Pray, for “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16), and ask for wisdom, for “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).
- Trust the Lord, whose eyes “are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil" (1 Peter 3:12).
With God, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).Lord, we rely on You for the intelligence, authority, and power we need to guard the well-being of our husbands, children, and households. We rely on Your eyes, ears, wisdom, and faithfulness to expose and defeat our enemies as we become more wholly Yours today. Click below to read the rest of the blogs in this series:
The Perfect Wife, Who Can Find?