Bless the Beasts, the Children and Women Like Abigail

By Cynthia Ruchti –

I have this friend (no, really I do!) who is struggling in her relationship with her husband. He’s not an ax-murderer or an adulterer, so she can’t just walk away. Nor would she want to. He’s a good man, but they’re not seeing eye-to-eye right now on a few dozen issues.

My mind flipped through the pages of Scripture and stopped to rest on passage after passage that revealed incidents of women who wrestled with less-than-ideal situations with the men in their lives.

That formed the basis of this prayer on her behalf. I’m posting it here because I’m pretty sure she’s not alone.

Great God of women with issues (of blood or otherwise),

…of women with jerks for husbands (like Abigail with Nabal),

…of women who are strong but misunderstood (like Deborah),

…of women who don’t like the choices their husbands make (like Sarai),

…of women whose husbands fail to take seriously their role as spiritual leader in the home (like Eve and Adam),

…of women who through the Adamic curse get their insides ripped out in childbirth while the men are “burdened” with oh-so-traumatic sweat and weeds, poor things,

…of women who are mentioned as followers of Christ and contributors to His work…but their husbands are not (like so many New Testament women),

…of women who “go to the tomb” because they care so deeply and have to do something with their sadness,

…of women who “happen” to be in the Garden to witness angel-speak because they care so deeply ,

…of women who put the pieces together when they hear that Jesus is alive, even though the men closest to them—who ought to know better—don’t get it,

…of women who wait for their husbands to return from war, to show up after work, to show up emotionally, and to “get it,”

PRAYER: Great God of women who from the beginning of time have found their strength—and their reward—in You, please place Your Hand of enduring blessing on the heads of the women who endure. Grant them a double dose of heart-peace for every bucket of patience they pour over their homes and relationships. Refill their reservoirs of grace, reservoirs so easily drained by life and people. May they find in You an inexhaustible measure of what their hearts most need—to be understood, appreciated, cherished, protected, encouraged, wanted, treasured, approved, believed, honored, embraced, covered and well-loved.

“Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?” (John 20:15a KJV).

Today’s devotional is by Cynthia Ruchti, writer/producer of THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME radio ministry and president of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). She is the author of They Almost Always Come Home (Abingdon Press Fiction) and the soon-to-be-released The Heart’s Harbor in A Door County Christmas novella collection. Cynthia writes stories of hope-that-glows-in-the-dark (www.cynthiaruchti.com).