In a departure of my usual format, this summer I will be teaching and posting a Bible Study series entitled Hat Juggling 101: The Genteel Art of Balancing All the Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships of a Godly Woman. I invite you to join me for all 9 lessons. Please email me your comments and questions using the little envelope following each lesson. I look forward to hearing from you.
The
Well-Dressed Woman Always Wears A Helmet
Gone
are the days when a woman wouldn’t think of going out without wearing a
hat. Thankfully that faux pas went out
of vogue in the 60’s. Some women look great in hats. I am not one of them. I blame my very straight, easily smashed
hair. However, there are times and
circumstances where wearing a hat is not about fashion, but a necessity. Take a helmet, for instance. It can be painted a variety of colors and
sport any imaginable design, but its purpose is not to make you look spiffy,
but to protect your head. Whenever our
fragile, significantly important head is in a position or involved in an
activity where it can possibly be hit by something or something hitting it, a
helmet needs to be securely put on.
Why
would or should you wear a helmet? Well,
let me give you three reasons:
1. As a
precautionary measure in case the unexpected happens.
2. It is required
or recommended. Someone responsible to see that you are
protected requires or recommends it for your well-being. For example: wearing a bike or motorcycle
helmet. In some jurisdictions a hefty
fine is used to motivate compliance.
Wisely and out of obedience, you willingly submit to their authority.
3. It is a good
example to those, who take their cues from you. Using the same example: a child is going to
be a lot more cooperative regarding wearing a bike helmet if they see you
consistently wearing one.
The
“when” of wearing a helmet should be obvious: whenever your head is in danger of getting hurt. When you are trying to juggle all your roles,
responsibilities, and relationships, the “whenever” is all the time. In one fell swoop they threaten to come
tumbling down on top of you in one life-paralyzing moment. Your head – the way you think, the way you feel,
the way you see things, the choices you make – is very vulnerable. The unexpected can and will happen. For that reason, the One who loves you most,
who has taken upon Himself the responsibility of your well-being, requires that
you wear a helmet. Before you attempt to start juggling all the other hats in
your life’s wardrobe, you must make sure you have your helmet on!
That
helmet according to God’s word is the “helmet of salvation.”
But since we belong to the day,
let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the
hope of salvation as a helmet. 1
Thessalonians 5:8
Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17
When we think of salvation, we think of being
saved from the consequences of sin – of missing God’s standard of holiness,
which according to Romans 6:23 is death.
For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
Jesus willing paid the full price accrued by
our sinful choices. Those choices resulted in a debt you and I could never
repay. But in His absolute holiness, Jesus
could. He had no debt of His own getting
in the way. So He paid a debt He did not
owe – ours. That payment purchased a
helmet that can protects your mind (as well as your soul).
How does the helmet of salvation protect your
mind? It protects it with eternal
security, with a sense of well-being and hope that does not disappoint. But
there is even more – it securely encases your mind in the eternal provisions of
Christ.
And
this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom you sent. John 17:3
This is not simply knowing about God,
but knowing Him personally – experientially: knowing that He is who He says He
is, and that all He does and all He asks of you are because of who He is. The more you know about Him – His
lovingkindness that knows no limits, His faithfulness that never ceases, His
goodness that characterizes all He does … the more you know, the more you
realize the truth of 2 Peter 1:3,4:
… by His divine power [He] has granted to us
everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him
who called you to His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to
us His precious and magnificent promises in order that by them you might become
partakers of the divine nature having escaped (being saved from) the corruption
that is in the world. 2 Peter 1:3,4
What we think about God goes beyond securing
eternal “life insurance.” The helmet of
salvation influences the way you think about God. Charles Swindoll compiled a list of why our
view of God is so important.
1.
It
enhances your worship and prompts your praise.
2.
It
shapes your moral and ethical standards.
3.
It
directly affects your response to pain and hardship.
4.
It
motivates your response towards fortune, fame, power and pleasure.
5.
It
gives you strength when you are tempted.
6.
It
keeps you faithful and courageous when you are outnumbered.
7.
It
determines your lifestyle and dictates your behavior.
8.
It
gives meaning and significance to relationships.
9.
It
stimulates hope to go on, regardless of what lies ahead of you.
10. It enables you to know what to reject and what to respect while
riveted to planet Earth.
11. It is the foundation upon which EVERYTHING rests!
It is called “helmet” because life is not a
recreational sport, but a war. And most
battles are fought on the battlefield of the mind. When flaming arrows of
doubt, fear and deception coming flying at you from all directions and when you
least expect it, you need the “helmet of salvation” to protect your mind with
truth. Neil T. Anderson, in Victory
Over the Darkness compiled a list that I have entitled “Realities to Live
By.” Bringing to mind God’s promises and
provision and shooting back truth from God’s word can and will make a dynamic
impact on who wins the current assault on your head.
Realities to Live By
1. Why
should I say I can’t when the Bible says I can do all things through Christ who
gives me strength? Philippians 4:13
2. Why
should I feel as if I lack something when I know that God shall supply all my
needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus? Philippians 4:19
3. Why
should I fear when the Bible says God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of
power, love and a sound mind? 2 Timothy 1:7
4. Why
should I lack faith to fulfill my calling knowing that God has allotted me a
sufficient measure of faith? Romans 12:3
5. Why
should I be feel like I am weak when the Bible says that the Lord is the
strength of my life and that I will display strength and take action because I
know God? Psalm 27:1; Daniel 11:32
6. Why
should I allow Satan supremacy over my life when He that is in me is greater
than he that is in the world? 1 John 4:4
7. Why
should I accept defeat when the Bible says that God always leads me in triumph? 2 Corinthians 2:14
8. Why
should I lack wisdom when Christ became wisdom to me from God and God gives
wisdom to me generously when I ask Him for it? 1Corinthians 1:30; James 1:5
9. Why
should I be depressed when I can recall to mind God’s lovingkindness,
compassion and faithfulness and have hope? Lamentations 3:21-23
10. Why
should I worry and fret when I can cast all my anxiety on Christ who cares for
me? 1 Peter 5:7
11. Why
should I ever be in bondage knowing that there is liberty where the Spirit of
the Lord is? Galatians 5:1
12. Why
should I feel condemned when the Bible says there is no longer any condemnation
because I am in Christ? Romans 8:1
13. Why
should I feel alone when Jesus said He is with me always and He will never
leave me nor forsake me? Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5
14. Why
should I feel like I am cursed or that I am the victim of bad luck when the
Bible says that Christ redeemed me from any and all curses of the law and given
me His Spirit?
15. Why
should I be discontent when I can learn to be content in all my circumstances?
16. Why
should I feel worthless when Christ showed my worth by becoming sin on my
behalf that I might become the righteousness of God in Him? 2 Corinthians 5:21
17. Why
should I have a persecution complex when I know that nobody can be against me
when God is for me? Romans 8:31
18. Why
should I be confused when God is the author of peace and gives me knowledge
through His indwelling Spirit? 1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 Corinthians 2:12
19. Why
should I feel like a failure when I am a conqueror in all things through
Christ? Romans 8:37
20. Why
should I let the pressures of life bother me when I can have strength and
courage knowing that Jesus has overcome the world and its tribulations? John 16:33
God lovingly provides and empowers each truth to ensure your
well-being. However, in order for a helmet to do its job, it has to be put
on. How do you do that?
1. Choose to believe. Faith is not a feeling, but a choice. Take God at His word that He is who He says
He is and has done, is doing and will do what He says He will do.
2. Get to know Him
intimately – listen about Him, read about Him, talk about Him and to Him, and
surround yourself with people who have a close and personal relationship with
Him.
3. Follow His example and do
what His word instructs you to do as closely as you can. Obeying what we do not necessarily
understand, is not easy. Walking by
faith rather than feelings or logic never is.
But, when you do, He promises inner joy that truly protects your mind
from fear, doubt and self-esteem busters.
Though you have not seen him (idotes – to perceive with
the outward senses particularly sight), you (chose to) love him (agape); and
even though you do not see him now (horontes – to discern clearly mentally),
you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 1 Peter 1:8
When you do, the result
is amazing. I especially love the
promise of Isaiah 26:3 and 32:17.
You [God] will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is
steadfast [stay firmly fixed/focused on God], because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3
The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of
righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. Isaiah 32:17
Now there is
a helmet with real security. Why would
you even want to venture out into this world without it? He provides it, but you must put it on. It is your choice. It requires your effort.
I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe
and my turban. Job 29:14
Put on the real
thing. A cheap imitation or substitute
will cause more damage then it will prevent. The world offers lots of
substitutes. And we have all tried on
most of them – pride, self-sufficiency, willfulness, fear, anxiety and
conformity, to name a few. It is time to
take off the inferior and put on the divinely empowered.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life,
to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created
to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24
The Lord desires to fully
clothe you. I love the finery He
provides according to Isaiah 61:10:
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my
God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe
of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride
adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah
61:10
So much for an ugly
armor! He wants you to be very
well-dressed. Just remember that a
well-dressed godly man or woman always
wears a helmet.
Before we
conclude this study, there was one more reason why we should wear a helmet: as
an example to those who take their cues from us. Our babies are born with a soft spot in their
head. Over time their physical
vulnerability may lessen, but not their emotional, mental or spiritual
vulnerability. Constantly putting on the
helmet of salvation – the identity and provisions of being in Christ is caught more than it is taught.
If they consistently see it in your actions and attitudes, hear it in
your words and tone, experience it as you live it out day by day through the
“whatever’s” of your life, they too will (1) see how vital it truly is; (2)
desire it for their own life; and (3) know the difference between the genuine
and the imitation. As they begin to
juggle hats of their own, their head will also be protected.
