Ladies in the Shadows

             Have you ever found yourself in an unusual situation caused by someone else?  Today, I would like to share with you about three women who were married to prominent men in the Old Testament.  Two of them are not even named in the Scripture, but each of them found themselves in very challenging situations because of the decisions that their husbands made.

            First, there is Cain’s wife.  How would you like to wake up one day and find that your husband is a murderer?  That’s exactly the situation that Mrs. Cain found herself in.  Cain was cursed to become a wanderer on earth because of his sin, and as his wife, Mrs. Cain was forced to endure the same sentence.  Not exactly an ideal marriage.

            Next, we have Mrs. Noah.  Fortunately for her, Noah was the total opposite of Cain.  He was righteous and blameless, and he walked with God.  However, because he wanted to obey God, he also built a big boat, even though it had never rained.  I’m sure that would have been a major conversation piece among Mrs. Noah’s friends.  Apparently, she continued to support him as she and her sons and their wives were all included when it came time to board the big boat.  This sounds like a much better circumstance than the one Mrs. Cain faced, but when you consider the challenge that Mrs. Noah faced when the flood ended and they were back on dry ground, it was still a difficult circumstance.  Since her family was all that was left of the human population, in one sense she became the new “mother of mankind”.  That was a role that Eve had tried and failed, so I wonder how Mrs. Noah faced that challenge. 

            Finally, we have Moses’ wife, Zipporah.  She married a sheep herder but ultimately found herself married to the leader of a people she did not know or understand.  We know little about how she coped with that surprising turn of events other than she learned that God required obedience and she complied by circumcising her son.

            So, what do we learn from these ladies?

First, our circumstances are not always the result of our own actions, but the real test of our character will be in how we deal with the new situation.  Even though the ark probably seemed like a crazy idea, Mrs. Noah supported her husband in his effort to be obedient to God.  Likewise, Moses’ God was a stranger to Zipporah, but she knew enough about Him to choose to be obedient.  When life throws you a lemon, are you going to whine and complain or are you going to make lemonade?

Secondly, we need to support and encourage our loved ones in challenging times.  There is no indication that Mrs. Cain condoned her husband’s actions, but she apparently stood by him as she bore him a son.  When those we love sin, should we abandon them, or should we encourage them to repent and turn from their evil ways?  We can’t help them learn to acknowledge their sin and repent if we walk away.  It’s not always sin that tempts us to abandon them.  Sometimes it’s a life change (like building a boat or becoming the leader of a nation) that tempts us to say, “that’s not what I signed up for.”  True, it probably wasn’t in our plans, but if we truly love the other person, be they spouse or friend, we will seek to encourage and support them. 

Finally, our role in life may be to remain in the shadows.  Not everyone was even named in the Scripture but that doesn’t change the impact that they had on the men they supported and loved.  It also doesn’t diminish the impact that they had on God’s story.

What about you?  Are you standing in the shadows, watching your loved one lead you into uncharted territory or are you the one taking the lead?  Either way, never forget that God has a plan for you, and if you are seeking His ways, you’ll never be alone or forgotten.

Proverbs 17: 17