to be busy at home...
"Teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live... then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children... and to be busy at home..." - Titus 2:3-4
What did he know? Paul, the single, childless, traveling evangelist. What did he know about home life? About being a wife or being a mother. What point of reference did he have, anyway? How does one give advice on a subject in which they've got no experience? I don't tell doctors how to do their job or give advice to firemen. I don't counsel lawyers or instruct architects. But the truth is that sometimes we have a difficult time reading scripture because it's hard to take it in. It's hard to accept the words that we know are true but don't want to hear. Maybe it's conviction. Most likely, it's conviction. But when the God of the universe gives words of wisdom to His people, they don't have to necessarily have been there to speak on it. God knows what it takes to fulfill the roles He has created. Our job, then, is to hear and understand.
I've read these words before. Any part of the Bible that mentions marriage or parenthood is a familiar passage to me. But over time God's never changing word speaks in a new way to our circumstances that changes our perspective. Maybe it's a new light on what was once fuzzy and unclear. Maybe it's a call of conviction on something that needs to change. Or maybe it's a reminder that hits closer to home than it did the last time we read it. Regardless, I read the words of Titus 2 and as I came across the charge for younger women, I was struck by the command that they are "to be busy at home."
I don't know a person one who wouldn't say they aren't busy. Isn't that the answer we're always giving when someone asks how we're doing? "Oh, I'm good. Just been busy!" I've said that before even when I haven't been busy because we live in a culture that is busy and tries its best to keep us that way. We may not have tasks piled on our plate from work projects or social events but the TV, social media, and internet alone can occupy our time. And as I read over those familiar words in Titus I chuckled to myself thinking it was funny for Paul to instruct women to be busy at home. Hello, Paul! Did Paul not realize who did the laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, ironing, bill paying, cooking, child caring, and errand running? Did he think women were sitting around watching soap operas while nothing was getting done? I've yet to meet a mom or wife who would describe her home life as slow and uneventful. If you've got a husband or a child who breathes and eats and wears clothes, then you know there's always something to keep you busy.
But the more I thought of this command, I began seeing that the challenge isn't really to be busy for busy's sake. That's a given. Rather, it's to be busy with the right tasks. To be busy not only taking care of your family's physical needs but their spiritual and emotional needs. To be busy serving your family. To be present despite the fact that there are a hundred other things to do to keep you busy and away from your family. To pour the best of your time and energy into them rather than in the trivial things that don't make an eternal difference. To be busy focusing on making sure your home is a safe place where they feel loved. A place where spiritual growth is cultivated. A place where they want to be. To be busy making your home a training ground for the little people you will send out as lights into this dark world. To be busy making your home a place of refuge and comfort for your husband to retreat to at the end of a long work day. To be busy filling your home with good memories, laughter, sweet fellowship, and God's presence. Busy doing kingdom work because we all know that home is where it starts.
There will always be laundry to fold. Always. There will be countless dishes to wash and dinners to prepare. The floors will always need to vacuumed and mopped, and the furniture will always collect dust. As long as you wake up each morning, there will be beds to make and sheets to change. The trash will collect, the internet will never sleep, and social media will only grow. Being busy will always be the case. There is always something to do. Let's just make sure that we stay busy doing the right things.
What did he know? Paul, the single, childless, traveling evangelist. What did he know about home life? About being a wife or being a mother. What point of reference did he have, anyway? How does one give advice on a subject in which they've got no experience? I don't tell doctors how to do their job or give advice to firemen. I don't counsel lawyers or instruct architects. But the truth is that sometimes we have a difficult time reading scripture because it's hard to take it in. It's hard to accept the words that we know are true but don't want to hear. Maybe it's conviction. Most likely, it's conviction. But when the God of the universe gives words of wisdom to His people, they don't have to necessarily have been there to speak on it. God knows what it takes to fulfill the roles He has created. Our job, then, is to hear and understand.
I've read these words before. Any part of the Bible that mentions marriage or parenthood is a familiar passage to me. But over time God's never changing word speaks in a new way to our circumstances that changes our perspective. Maybe it's a new light on what was once fuzzy and unclear. Maybe it's a call of conviction on something that needs to change. Or maybe it's a reminder that hits closer to home than it did the last time we read it. Regardless, I read the words of Titus 2 and as I came across the charge for younger women, I was struck by the command that they are "to be busy at home."
I don't know a person one who wouldn't say they aren't busy. Isn't that the answer we're always giving when someone asks how we're doing? "Oh, I'm good. Just been busy!" I've said that before even when I haven't been busy because we live in a culture that is busy and tries its best to keep us that way. We may not have tasks piled on our plate from work projects or social events but the TV, social media, and internet alone can occupy our time. And as I read over those familiar words in Titus I chuckled to myself thinking it was funny for Paul to instruct women to be busy at home. Hello, Paul! Did Paul not realize who did the laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, ironing, bill paying, cooking, child caring, and errand running? Did he think women were sitting around watching soap operas while nothing was getting done? I've yet to meet a mom or wife who would describe her home life as slow and uneventful. If you've got a husband or a child who breathes and eats and wears clothes, then you know there's always something to keep you busy.
But the more I thought of this command, I began seeing that the challenge isn't really to be busy for busy's sake. That's a given. Rather, it's to be busy with the right tasks. To be busy not only taking care of your family's physical needs but their spiritual and emotional needs. To be busy serving your family. To be present despite the fact that there are a hundred other things to do to keep you busy and away from your family. To pour the best of your time and energy into them rather than in the trivial things that don't make an eternal difference. To be busy focusing on making sure your home is a safe place where they feel loved. A place where spiritual growth is cultivated. A place where they want to be. To be busy making your home a training ground for the little people you will send out as lights into this dark world. To be busy making your home a place of refuge and comfort for your husband to retreat to at the end of a long work day. To be busy filling your home with good memories, laughter, sweet fellowship, and God's presence. Busy doing kingdom work because we all know that home is where it starts.
There will always be laundry to fold. Always. There will be countless dishes to wash and dinners to prepare. The floors will always need to vacuumed and mopped, and the furniture will always collect dust. As long as you wake up each morning, there will be beds to make and sheets to change. The trash will collect, the internet will never sleep, and social media will only grow. Being busy will always be the case. There is always something to do. Let's just make sure that we stay busy doing the right things.
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