My sons are 5 and 3, and they are every bit the adventurers John Eldridge describes in Wild at Heart. Young men who are bent on looking in every hole, climbing every obstacle, finding every bug, walking every path. My oldest, Caedmon, has a love for bugs. He loves catching butterflies and finding ants in holes in the yard. Every day we play outside and when we are done he walks over to me covered in dirt. He rolls around on the ground looking for bugs and when the wind blows he looks like pigpen from Peanuts.
But despite their adventurous attitudes they hate, with a passion, spiders. Every time a spider shows up they yell and run around in circles. And every time they yell, regardless of how far away I am, they come get me. I could be 40 feet away and they run to me begging me to squash the spider before anyone "gets bited". And I gotta admit, it feels good.
It feels good when they are too scared to kill the spider, when a big dog barks at them and they cling to me, when its thundering and they want to sit next to me. It feels good when my wife hears a noise at night and regardless of me telling her what the noise is, I still must go and bravely ward off the creaking door or fan left on. And I dont think you will find a father or husband who says otherwise.
1 Cor. 16:13 says "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong." Paul speaking to men here.
I am all for woman power and Sarah Palin running for office, but women were not asked to be the towering figures of strength that men are required to be in the bible. Our greatest heroes of faith were warriors. But as men we must understand why we have this strength and not abuse it. God did not make men strong and brave so they could be slave drivers or task masters to those they love. They were given strength so they could protect their families, be it physical or spiritual.
I think the primary job of Godly men is to hold a shield in front of his family. The New Testament says that with our shield of faith we quench all fiery darts of the Enemy. Can we hold a shield that protects others while we are standing behind them? No. As men we must protect from the front. Be in the front. Lead. Take your shield in one hand, and your family in the other, and drag them through the fiery hell of the Enemy. Proverbs says a leader leads through diligence. It is our watch men, fathers, husbands. We lead the way but we dont lead to be in charge, we lead to serve. We lead to be the protector. We carry the shield of faith in front of our families because it is our rightful place in this Kingdom.
Is there an arrow wound in your family? Has the Enemy hurt your wife or children? We as men carry the first responsibility of asking ourselves "Where have I failed to exercise my faith? Where have I not watched?" I encourage you to exercise strength in love and knowing that if we fail we have a Savior that is faithful. Be like Him and charge through the hell of the enemy, facing it head on, carrying your shield of faith and your family.
