To find out what a man is, and especially a Man of God, we must explore our hearts; and God has given us the invitation to do so. As John points out there are three desires written on the heart of every man: A battle to fight, an adventure to life, and a beauty to rescue. Each of these will be looked at more in depth later, but we need an brief introduction to each before we begin.
A Battle to Fight
"Aggression is part of the masculine design,we are hardwired for it." Simple fact, men are aggressive. I wrestled back in the day, and I loved it. When I got to the point where I didn't get nervous before matches and just did it for fun my mentality was to beat up on the guy for six minutes. I didn't go for the pin, I went for the tech fall (beating your opponent by at least 15 points). I was there to dominate, and I love sport because you can.
Aggression is part of who we are, God made us that way. The Bible says both that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1), and that "the Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name" (Exodus 15.3). Man, made in the image of God, is a warrior. Warriors need a battle to fight, and life provides them constantly. Daily we face battles, some for our integrity, others for our marriage, and the rest for various other things. Sometimes the battles are literal life or death fights, and other times they are battles of the mind and spirit. But no matter the battle the man must be fierce if he is to simply survive, let alone be victorious.
"Life needs a man to be fierce -and fiercely devoted. The wounds he will take throughout his life will cause him to lose heart if all he has been trained to be is soft." The battles will come, and the man must be ready for them. The closer a man is to God the greater the battles are. The Man of God cannot afford to be soft, he must be the fierce warrior that he was created to be. "Like it or not, there is something fierce in the heart of every man."
An Adventure to Live
Part of me wants to list this one first, but I'm simply following the book. "Adventure is written into the heart of a man. And it's not just about having 'fun.' Adventure requires something of us, puts us to the test. Though we may fear the test, at the same time we yearn to be tested, to discover that we have what it takes."
All of us like to be pushed, because all of us love the satisfaction that comes from completing a task or overcoming an obstacle. The reason I would put this first is that I believe the adventure is what prepares us for the battles we will face. The last post shared the questions we all ask in our search for identity, and adventure presents us with the challenges that bring us the answers to those questions. We need adventure in our life, not as a "macho-man pep rally" but as part of the quest for authentic masculinity.
A Beauty to Rescue
Without this final part the previous two ultimately aren't worth doing. There has to be someone to fight for. There has to be someone to adventure with. "There is nothing so inspiring to a man as a beautiful woman." If you ever have the opportunity to watch a group of high school boys notice how much harder they work if there are girls around. In the presence of a young lady they will run faster, lift more, and work harder, even if she isn't looking at them. If she isn't there they goof around and whatever they are doing either takes twice as long or only gets half way done.
"A man wants to be the hero to the beauty... The battle itself is never enough; a man years for romance." Without the beauty what is there to fight for? Without the beauty what is the point of living in adventure? God Himself said, "It is not good for the man to be alone." In Proverbs it says, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord."
And within this beauty is a separate heart, the other side of God's heart. Since she too is made in the image of the one God she has similar desires, but they are unique because she is the other half of God's image. She desires to be fought for, she wants to be pursued. Every woman wants to share in an adventure, she is not the adventure, but a traveling companion. Every woman wants to have a beauty to unveil, not to conjure, but to reveal. She is captivating and needs to know that her hero knows that.
The reason I spent so much time in this first chapter is that I was stuck on this part. Yes I've been fighting battles for a long time now, and yes my heart longs for adventure, I want to be tested and it feels like no one is willing to test me. But the biggest thing for me right now is the beauty in my life.
I have found a good thing and obtained favor from the Lord in my wife, but I have failed to be her hero. I've never had this type of relationship with anyone before, and in so many ways I'm still learning how to be a husband. But this is the area that God is focusing me on right now.
My wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, I have no idea how I got her. But over the past year I have failed to show her that she captivates me. I've failed to let her unveil her true beauty. I've failed to fight for her heart. Because of this there has been hurt in her life. There have been things from the past that have continued to hurt her because I have failed to protect her. I'm tired of this. I want to be her hero. I will be her hero.
I don't know what God is working on in your life, but if you are on this journey with me, we will work towards recovering our hearts together. We will get our hearts back. Stay with me, my brothers, as we become Men of God.
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
No comments:
Post a Comment