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How to Manage Anxiety
Yesterday I posted Jesus’ words from Matthew chapter 6. It is one of his classic teachings on worry and anxiety. Today I wanted to follow that up by looking at the practical steps to fighting anxiety that this teaching gives us.
25 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
First, notice how simple this is, and how shocking. Jesus simply commands his followers: “Do not worry.” Evidently he thinks this is a command which can be obeyed. Evidently he thinks it is crucial for it to be obeyed. And that means that, like all of God’s commands, the Holy Spirit gives the power to obey it to anyone who wants that power. Now, notice the practical steps Jesus tells us we can take to overcome anxiety:
1. Understand what life is not about.
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or’What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Here’s an important observation about this passage , from a great reference book: “[This teaching] is directed against the error that denies God’s care and love by supposing that we can secure our own future by temporarily securing what we need for our daily lives.” That’s pretty profound, right? Isn’t this exactly how most people try to secure their future—by getting what they need for daily living? But Jesus says that’s not the way forward, if we want to battle anxiety. The way forward begins with internalizing, to a deep level these words about what Jesus really calls “life.”
2. Remember you have a Father, in heaven, who’s near, who cares.
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or`What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
The follower of Christ inhabits the same world as everyone else, but we are aware of one essential element of the world that those who don’t know God don’t know about—we understand that we live in a universe inhabited by God. And this God is our Father. And we don’t just understand it. We live off it. We talk with him. His word comes to us. He is with us. He exists, and he relates to us personally—and that changes everything. And Jesus knows that we need to remind ourselves of that. So He reminded us of it too.
If you find yourself with extra time off, or extra time alone, please, cultivate nearness to him. Sit with an open bible, read it, and tell the Lord that you know He is with you.
3. Actively pursue the eternal things which make up God’s kingdom.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
So here is something goes beyond trying to avoid worrying or get rid of anxiety. This is something positive to do. Jesus taught that the way to transcend anxiety was to be busy doing good things that are connected to the new, eternal government that’s coming soon to take everything over. Maybe there’s someone out there to take care of. Maybe there’s someone who needs to be told of the kingdom of God. Maybe there’s someone in your house who needs you. Or maybe there’s your own soul, and the Spirit of God with you, and the need to pray for your friends and your country and your own issues.
4. Do faithfully what needs to be done today.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Christ gives us the permission to live by the day. In fact, he commands it. We pray for daily bread (6:11); we do what is in front of us; we take care of the things that need taken care of (including providing for tomorrow’s breakfast, maybe).
So there it is, Jesus’ recipe for a life free from anxiety. We let the word of God tell us what life really is. We keep our Father in mind. We proactively do the things he calls us to. We take care of today’s work, and leave tomorrow to worry about itself.
Here’s the thing: you may already have known all this. But the power and closeness of God are found in simply trusting these words, and getting up and doing it. So let’s go for it.
Time to Practice Having Peace
“Men’s hearts failing them from fear.” That’s how Jesus describes the emotional state of global society, right before he comes back. Now, it’s clear from the context of this statement (Luke chapter 21) that we are not in that particular stage of history at this moment, and yet… it’s no profound observation that, at the time of this post, those words are not far off from describing the emotional state of our time as well.
What brought us to this place? For a long time now, many of us have allowed anxiety to live in our heads. Like a mold that’s just behind the wallpaper, we know it’s there—but we haven’t taken the necessary steps to eradicate it. Instead, we’ve maintenance it, but let it live and thrive in us. Working with young people for years, and now young adults, I would call it a true epidemic—a crisis of emotional health. The medicines we’re using don’t work, and so many of the habits we’ve formed actually feed it. Screens and everything that come through them, both technology and content, feed and drive our anxiety. And now, at last, like all diseases do, it’s broken out into the open. Anxiety, evidently, can’t stay hidden for long. And now, it’s ruling us, from the highest levels of society, on down.
To be very clear, I am not saying that the disease threatening us this week is not serious. Calvary Chapel is taking all necessary and recommended precautions, and we’re erring on the side of caution. We want not a single member of our church family, or a single person who’s not connected with our church family, to contract Coronavirus because we were negligent. To endanger a single person would be to fail in love. And so we gladly join the efforts of our local and state community to help make the impact of this disease as small as possible, and we seek to love others by doing whatever we can to help everyone get through this.
Of course, Christians are no more immune to viruses than anyone else. We have the same humanity. The bible teaches us that we should not expect to avoid the same physical sufferings and difficult times that rock the world we live in. But it also teaches something else. While Christians will manifest the same rates of physical sickness, and life trouble, as everyone else, we are clearly called to manifest much lower levels of anxiety.
Consider the one common teaching at the core of all these verses:
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew chapter 6)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy– meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians chapter 4)
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter chapter 5)
The common thread is easy to spot. God wove, all through his word, a clear, powerful call to his people: Do not worry. Resist and reject anxiety. No matter how bad things look, trust the Lord, and don’t panic.
What’s the point of all this? The disciple of Christ can expect to live in stressful times. But those who know God have the unique opportunity to move through stressful times without the same stress inside that everyone else is consumed with. In fact, Jesus highlighted it as a crucial issue. And he issued very clear commands on the subject. The rest of the bible calls those who know God to the same thing. Those around us who don’t have Christ are perishing from an inward emptiness and a complete void where they should have life and love. But we have the River of life, satisfying our souls at the deepest level. And those who are drinking deeply from the river have an obligation to move through thirsty crowds looking like (and actually being) people who are deeply taken care of—because we are.
The world is unstable. But the kingdom of God is coming. We are vulnerable. But nothing can separate us from God’s love. Death may stalk us, even overtake us. But not a hair of our heads will perish. Parents, governments, experts may fail. But we have a Father in Heaven. The familiar things may end. Fear Not—The I Am is the beginning and the end, his kingdom will never end.
So let all the News prattle on, Fake or Real. They know all kinds of things, but they don’t know the crucial things. They greatly err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. We don’t disdain them. But neither do we join them in their panic. We soberly take stock of the world around us, just as it comes to us, on any given day. We do the necessary things for the day at hand. We rise. We pray. We work. We shop. We talk about Jesus and the Kingdom of God. We care for others. We plan. We sleep. We wake up, cast our care on God, and do it again, in his allotted strength, for one more day.
So, young adults of Calvary Philly, let’s rise to the occasion. Let’s seek God, and rely on him as our strength. Let’s eliminate from our lives anything that would distract or come between us and him. Let’s be open to how God might want to meet with us in these times, and to how he might want to use us in these times.
And here’s one final note: My friends, there is a good chance that you’re reading this because you saw our post on Instagram or Facebook pointing you to the blog. When you finish the article, please, don’t go back on social media. Don’t go back on YouTube. Put your phone down. Put it away. Don’t run to Netflix. This is not the time to binge watch anything. All those things will just stoke the fires of your anxiety. They will drown out the voice of God, make sleep difficult, and rob you of the peaceful friendship of God’s presence. Instead, take this time as an invitation to draw near to God. Go to Him. And he will draw near to you.
Rock Solid Words for Unstable Times
There are times when things that used to seem solid feel shaky. Right?
Routines. Jobs. Society at large. Your health.
In those times, we need to find the true solid ground, the only solid ground, under our feet. We need to find bedrock, so that we can stand. Deeper than any need blared in all the frantic news feeds is the need for men and women who’ve found the bedrock, and are standing on it.
Friends, the bedrock is the word of God. Behind our whole life is the word of God that underwrites our every word, decision, and day. He holds our thoughts, and our cells, together. He holds the past and future linked in an unbreakable bond with the present. He holds cause and effect together, tightly knit, so that our actions continue to matter. And he does it all with his word. His word funds the molecular bonds that bind our physical order, to keep it from spiraling into chaos and oblivion.
And so, when we feel instability, those who know God turn to the word of God. We turn to our bibles. Don’t pause at that thought. The relationship between the printed words on the page of your bible and the eternal word of God is deep, and profound. Many have been tempted to feel that the written words are only indirectly related to that more mysterious-seeming eternal word. But wait…the bible itself claims to be that word of God. It is the eternal word of God, there for us to read. In the Bible, you have access to the words which bind reality together. And that means that the words of the bible are the most solid thing in the universe—they are the word of God. When everything else feels shaky, go plant your feet on the words of the bible—by reading, and rehearsing, and memorizing, and believing, and acting on them. You will feel the inner strength, the confidence, of someone who knows they’re standing on firm, solid ground. All other words are not solid, compared to the rock of God’s word.
For today, I offer these words for your feet. You can find many, many more where they came from:
Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:22)
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. (2 Samuel 22:2-3)
Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength. (Isaiah 26:4)
Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah (Psalm 62:8)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:20)
Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble—therefore we will not fear. (Psalm 46:1-2)
Friends, fill your hearts with his words.
Not in the cause, but in the result.
Into just a few short sentences in the introduction to his commentary on the Book of Job, Francis Anderson packs some real insight into the nature of life, suffering, and what the scriptures have to tell us about it all:
Men seek an explanation of suffering in cause and effect.
They look backwards for a connection between prior sin and present suffering.
The Bible looks forwards in hope and seeks explanations, not so much in origins, as in goals.
The purpose of suffering is seen, not in its cause, but in its result.
The man was born blind so that the works of God could be displayed in him (John 9:3). But sometimes good never seems to come out of evil. Men wait in vain. They find God’s slowness irksome. They lose heart, and often lose faith.
The Bible commends God’s self-restraint. The outworkings of His justice through the long processes of history, which sometimes require spans of many centuries, are part of our existence in time.
It is easier to see the hand of God in spectacular and immediate acts, and the sinner who is not instantly corrected is likely to despise God’s delay in executing justice as a sign that He is indifferent or even absent.
We have to be as patient as God Himself to see the end result, or to go on living in faith without seeing it.
In due season we shall reap, if we do not faint.
(Francis I. Anderson, Job: And Introduction and Commentary, p. 130, emphasis added)
Deconversion Stories and Evangelism
On Monday night, Chris mentioned some prominent stories of celebrities who have recently “deconverted,” renouncing their previous commitment to Christian belief. Some YouTubers recently joined the ranks of the deconverted, and it prompted a little spate of emails to my inbox from some lists I subscribe to. One helpful link was to an article by Alisa Childers , called Let’s Deconstruct a Deconversion Story It’s about the people Chris mentioned, and I recommend it. Another was from a few years ago, by Trevin Wax. I recommend it too, for a big-picture kind of look at all of the issues. In Wax’s article, he quotes from Charles Taylor’s book A Secular Age, Taylor writes:
What happens is that people are convinced that there is something more mature, more courageous, readier to face unvarnished reality in the scientific stance. The superiority is an ethical one… If I become convinced that the ancient faith reflects a more immature outlook on things, in comparison to modern science, then I will indeed see myself as abandoning the first to cleave to the second.
Wax observes that, as Taylor explains, the issue “is not the latest piece of science but the story science tells, as well as the desired self-image of being mature and rational.” Wax continues:
What might this truth mean for our engaging of people who are in the process of abandoning the faith they inherited as children? Commenting on Taylor’s view, James K. A. Smith writes:
If Taylor is right, it seems to suggest that the Christian response to such converts to unbelief is not to have an argument about the data or “evidences” but rather to offer an alternative story that offers a more robust, complex understanding of the Christian faith. The goal of such witness would not be the minimal establishment of some vague theism but the invitation to historic, sacramental Christianity.” (77)
The classical approach of apologetics is to present rational proofs for God’s existence, and then from this point to argue for the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Classical apologetics is beneficial in the effort to show that Christianity is true, but if Taylor is right, then one is already likely to accept or reject reasons for belief before they ever hear them because the greater story is already conditioning them to accept or reject “proofs” of God’s existence and the truth of Christianity.
Perhaps this is why one of the best ways to engage an unbeliever is simply to invite them to church. Lesslie Newbigin spoke of the people of God as a “community apologetic.” It’s not that the church replaces other, rational strategies and arguments for belief in God. It’s that the church becomes the atmosphere, the teller of a better story, a story whose truth begins to work on the heart of a non-religious person, conditioning them for the moment when the classical apologetics “proofs” are then used by the Holy Spirit to confirm the belief He has already initiated in them.
I have come to agree with this more and more as the years go by. The first need is for all of us who follow Jesus to press into living and experiencing real spiritual life in communion with the Spirit of God. The second need is for us to commit to doing that with others–to be living parts of our church, building up the family of believers, just as the Bible directs us. And then, maybe the final step is for us to invite non-believers to come observe our life together–to see our friendships, to hear the word of our Father, to taste what it’s like to be in a place where people who really love each other gather and share in God’s blessings together. They won’t really be a part of things until they trust in Christ and find new life, but the very existence of the kind of family they’ve never had might be the strongest “argument” God uses to bring them to faith in Christ.
Maybe they will think: “I’ve never had this. And I want it.”
And maybe the Spirit of God will say to them, “You can have it. Repent of your sin and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Come be part of the family.”
No more Mr. Nice
What do you think?
A Philistine has invaded our ranks, a shadow has swept across culture and crept into the church. He is a suffocation, a photo negative. He has become a false ideal, a half-truth, a silhouette: a man described by what he should not be rather than what he should.
… Amen to what real men are not, but what, then, is a real man? Can we not say more than just a male who doesn’t do bad? We need men who not only avoid evil but embody what is good.
There is a profound difference.
One sees manhood as an incurable illness of society to be managed; the other, a pillar to build civilization upon.
And consider:
I know… men [for whom it] would be a dishonor and a lie, once you get to know them, to meagerly call them “nice guys”— or any other bland, empty-calorie, sugar-free synonym. Initially, one might be tempted to call them common. They may not stand out at first glance. But they will in time.
After hearing the hushed thunder of their prayers, watching the firm tenderness with which they lead their family, after fighting next to them in spiritual battles, marveling at their unwillingness to grumble in hard times, yearning to imitate their ever-buoyant love for those who wound them, their courage to stand when others flee, their unmistakable heavenly assignment, their ability to lift all around them towards spiritual-mindedness — many, including myself, become rightfully astonished. They are not celebrities. They have not written books. You can’t find their sermons on Youtube. But with worn Bibles, sore knees, and a sincere faith, they live distinctly in the world for Christ.
This is all from a great article by Greg Morse, on why we should stop trying to be “nice” guys. Gentlemen, consider reading it.
How then to have our faith increased?
These words come from a letter from Hudson Taylor to a close friend. You’ll find them in Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. As I’ve posted before, I highly recommend this book. And there’s more here. Enjoy…
I do wish I could have a talk with you now about the way of holiness.
At the time you were speaking to me about it, it was the subject of all others occupying my thoughts, not from anything I had read…so much as from a consciousness of failure—a constant falling short of that which I felt should be aimed at; an unrest; a perpetual striving to find some way by which one might continually enjoy that communion, that fellowship, at times so real but more often so visionary, so far off!…
Do you know, I now think that this striving, longing, hoping for better days to come is not the true way to holiness, happiness, or usefulness. It is better, no doubt, far better than being satisfied with poor attainments, but not the best way after all. I have been struck with a passage from a book…entitled Christ Is All. It says, “The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete. He is most holy who has most of Christ within, and joys must fully in the finished work. It is defective faith which clogs the feet and causes many a fall.”
This last sentence, I think I now fully endorse. To let my loving Savior work in me his will, my sanctification, is what I would live for by his grace. Abiding, not striving nor struggling; looking off unto him; trusting him for present power;…resting in the love of an almighty Savior, in the joy of a complete salvation, ‘from all sin’-this is not new, and yet ‘tis new to me. I feel as though the dawning of a glorious day has risen upon me. I hail it with trembling, yet with trust. I seem to have got to the edge only, but of a boundless sea; to have sipped only, but of that which fully satisfies. Christ literally all seems to me, now, the power, the only power for service, the only ground for unchanging joy…
How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all he is for us; his life, his death, his work, he himself as revealed to us in the Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts.
Not a striving to have faith…but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity.
If that moves you, maybe spend some time thinking about it, while you mull over Romans 8:1-6 and Galatians 2:20.
Five Problems for Neo-Darwinism
I saw this on Justin Taylor’s blog, and thought it was a helpful summary, for any of you who encounter these things regularly.
The Discovery Institute identifies five areas of science that pose serious problems for neo-Darwinianism:
1. Genetics
Mutations cause harm and do not build complexity.
Darwinian evolution relies on random mutations that are selected by a blind, unguided process of natural selection that has no goals. Such a random and undirected process tends to harm organisms and does not improve them or build complexity. As National Academy of Sciences biologist Lynn Margulis has said, “new mutations don’t create new species; they create offspring that are impaired.” Similarly, past president of the French Academy of Sciences, Pierre-Paul Grasse, contended that “[m]utations have a very limited ‘constructive capacity’” because “[n]o matter how numerous they may be, mutations do not produce any kind of evolution.”
2. Biochemistry
Unguided and random processes cannot produce cellular complexity.
Our cells contain incredible complexity, like miniature factories using machine technology but dwarfing the complexity and efficiency of anything produced by humans. Cells use miniature circuits, motors, feedback loops, encoded language, and even error-checking machinery to decode and repair our DNA. Darwinian evolution struggles to build this type of integrated complexity. As biochemist Franklin Harold admits: “there are presently no detailed Darwinian accounts of the evolution of any biochemical or cellular system, only a variety of wishful speculations.”
3. Paleontology
The fossil record lacks intermediate fossils.
The fossil record’s overall pattern is one of abrupt explosions of new biological forms, and possible candidates for evolutionary transitions are the exception, not the rule. This has been recognized by many paleontologists such as Ernst Mayr who explained in 2000 that “[n]ew species usually appear in the fossil record suddenly, not connected with their ancestors by a series of intermediates.” Similarly, a zoology textbook observed that “Many species remain virtually unchanged for millions of years, then suddenly disappear to be replaced by a quite different, but related, form. Moreover, most major groups of animals appear abruptly in the fossil record, fully formed, and with no fossils yet discovered that form a transition from their parent group.”
4. Taxonomy
Biologists have failed to construct Darwin’s “Tree of Life.”
Biologists hoped that DNA evidence would reveal a grand tree of life where all organisms are clearly related. It hasn’t. Trees describing the alleged ancestral relationships between organisms based upon one gene or biological characteristic very commonly conflict with trees based upon a different gene or characteristic. As the journal New Scientist put it, “different genes told contradictory evolutionary stories.” The eminent microbiologist Carl Woese explained that such “[p]hylogenetic” conflicts “can be seen everywhere in the universal tree, form its root to the major branchings within and among the various taxa to the makeup of the primary groupings themselves.” This implies a breakdown in common descent, the hypothesis that all organisms share a common ancestor.
5. Chemistry
The chemical origin of life remains an unsolved mystery.
The mystery of the origin of life is unsolved and all existing theories of chemical evolution face major problems. Basic deficiencies in chemical evolution include a lack of explanation for how a primordial soup could arise on the early earth’s hostile environment, or how the information required for life could be generated by blind chemical reactions. As evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci has admitted, “we really don’t have a clue how life originated on Earth by natural means.”
For competent books making the case for design and showing scientific problems with neo-Darwinianism, see Stephen Meyer’s Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design (2009) and Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design (2013).
For an introduction, Kenneth Keathley and Mark Rooker’s 40 Questions About Creation and Evolution (2014) now looks like the best entryway into this debate as it relates to biblical authority and interpretation.
“Oh the Joy to see Thee reigning!”
A hymn, by Frances Ridley Havergal
Thou art coming, O my Savior,
Thou art coming, O my King,
In Thy beauty all resplendent,
In Thy glory all transcendent;
Well may we rejoice and sing;
Coming! In the opening east,
Herald brightness slowly swells:
Coming! O my glorious Priest,
Hear we not Thy golden bells?
Thou art coming, Thou art coming;
We shall meet Thee on Thy way;
We shall see Thee, we shall know Thee,
We shall bless Thee, we shall show Thee
All our hearts could never say:
What an anthem that will be,
Ringing out our love to Thee,
Pouring out our rapture sweet
At Thine own all-glorious feet.
Thou art coming, at Thy Table
We are witnesses for this;
While remembering hearts Thou meetest
In communion clearest, sweetest,
Earnest of our coming bliss,
Showing not Thy death alone,
And Thy love exceeding great,
But Thy coming and Thy throne,
All for which we long and wait.
Oh, the joy to see Thee reigning,
Thee, my own beloved Lord!
Every tongue Thy Name confessing,
Worship, honor, glory, blessing,
Brought to Thee with one accord;
Thee, my Master and my Friend,
Vindicated and enthroned,
Unto earth’s remotest end
Glorified, adored, and owned!
What does Genesis 3:16 mean?
Tonight we’ll look at Genesis 3:16, which reads:
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” (NKJV)
There are a lot of different thoughts on what that last part of the verse (“your desire shall be for your husband”) means. In the course of preparing for tonight, I read three helpful articles by women on this verse, which I thought some of you might be interested in for further study.
One was by a scholar named Susan Foh, which gets quoted in a lot of commentaries on this verse. (You can download her article here.) She explained it this way:
“Eve would have to fight against a desire to master her husband, a desire that works against God’s ordained order for the home. The principle of Adam’s headship was established before the fall. Now the curse on Eve makes it much harder for her to submit and flow with God’s institution of male headship in the home.
“The words of the Lord in Genesis 3:16b, as in the case of the battle between sin and Cain, do not determine the victor of the conflict between husband and wife. These words mark the beginning of the battle of the sexes. As a result of the fall, man no longer rules easily; he must fight for his headship. Sin has corrupted both the willing submission of the wife and the loving headship of the husband. The woman’s desire is to control her husband (to usurp his divinely appointed headship) and he must master her, if he can. So the rule of love founded in paradise is replaced by struggle, tyranny and domination. Experience corroborates this interpretation of God’s judgment on the woman. If the words “and he shall rule over you” in Genesis 3:16b are understood in the indicative, then they are not [actually] true. As Cain did not rule over sin (Genesis 4: 7b ), so not every husband rules his wife, and wives have desires contrary to their husbands’ and often have no desire [at all] …for their husbands.”
Then I read a response by an author named Wendy Alsup (available here), who tones down this interpretation and reads the verse like this:
“If we read Genesis 3:16 in the straightforward way translators write it—“her desire/craving/longing will be for her husband”—it requires no hermeneutical backflips. As a result of the Fall, even though childbirth is painful and the man rules her, the woman still has a morbid craving for him, looking to him in unhealthy ways that do not reflect her status as an image-bearer of God. The woman wants something from the man that he was never intended to provide, that even on his best day he is not equipped to provide. He becomes an idol.”
Another author named Claire Smith pushed back a little in response to Wendy Aslup’s article, and said that Susan Foh’s reading of the verse actually does work the best. (Smith’s article is here.) She said:
“We can’t decide on the meaning of “desire” without also considering the meaning of “rule,” especially as the man’s “rule” appears to be a response, a reciprocal action, to the woman’s “desire.” This word is used throughout the Old Testament for “rule,” “dominion,” or “reign,” whether by God, [or] human agents… But if we interpret the woman’s desire as “idolatrous/unhealthy longing,” the reciprocal action of “rule” makes less sense than it does if her prior action was a desire to possess or control her husband… However, all these problems are avoided if we take “desire” to have the sense of “possess,” “control,” “direct,” or “dominate.” … This meaning of “desire” in Genesis 3:16 fits with the sentence as a whole—as the woman’s action finds a reciprocal action from her husband. She desires to possess or control him, and he instead will rule over her. It fits with the theme of conflict running through God’s judgment, as the different parts of his creation wrestle for control (Gen. 3:14-19).
So, there you have it. Happy studying!
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