“Ephraim has mixed himself among the people, Ephraim is a cake unturned. Aliens have devoured his strength, But he does not know it; yes gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the Lord their God. Nor seek him for all this. Ephraim is also like a silly dove, without sense, they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.” Hosea 7: 8 – 11
“My people mingle with heathen, picking up their evil ways…..”
Marital life comes with its own challenges.
These days, it is not uncommon to find a group of women talking about their experiences and how it has formed a principle they now live by.
These principles (that are formed by unpleasant experiences of the speakers) are adopted as a way of life and handed down to friends and daughters such that they become the foundation of a new home or an already existing home.
Wives will then begin to use this unsolicited information to react to their husbands; especially if the situation looks similar.
For example, a woman who goes to the salon and hears about the experience of another woman, unconsciously stores the events that led to that woman’s incident in her heart. Then, she begins to automatically watch her husband for similar behavior.
Thus, when her husband returns late from work (perhaps, because he met an old friend and lost track of time), she would throw tantrum and make trouble. The confused husband immediately becomes defensive.
“Ephraim has mixed himself….”
Christian sisters are beginning to adopt the same principles used by sisters in the world.
They are mixing themselves with the heathen.
They are using their belief system.
They are using their suspicion and monitoring strategies to check up on their husbands.
Women in the world would often say,
“If your husband comes back home late from work more often than before (even if he is handling a new project at work), something is wrong. Don’t wait for trouble to enter your home; you must protect your investment.”
Some of the ways to protect your “investment” include:
- Check through his text messages or e-mails; especially when he’s not there.
- Once in a while, go to his office unannounced.
- Check his shirt or clothes for strange perfume or strange stains.
- Go through his pockets everyday when he comes back from work.
The list is endless.
Dear sister, are you adopting a heathen strategy for your “godly” home? Are you attempting to use their principles to build your home?
Ps 127:1 says unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It doesn’t matter how long you keep checking his phone or monitoring his movement. All these will only make you more agitated and anxious.
It will only make you more worried and lead to health complications for you.
Hosea 7:9, “Foreign gods has sapped their strength but they don’t know it”.
Following the counsel of the world is sapping your strength.
Using their strategy is weakening you both in spirit and in the body. Because each time their strategy fails (and it will fail because you don’t have the same foundation), you will become frustrated and angry, and it will move you further away from God.
Dear sister, can a builder construct a building successfully without checking the plans and design?
Also, when your phone is not charged, it becomes useless; an extra burden that lacks purpose.
Dear sister, do not allow your marriage to become a dead weight or a burden to carry along such that thoughts of it leaves you depressed and sad.
God says in verse 15: “I have helped them and made them strong, yet they turned against me”.
God is the only reason why you are in that marriage (assuming God truly sanctioned the union).
He made it possible for you and the brother to meet and get married.
God helped you and now you are married. Why are you looking everywhere else but not looking to heaven for solutions to issues in your home?
No matter where you look and who you turn to, they do not know how your life will play out.
They can only advice you based on guesswork.
Why would you allow others to determine the outcome of your life and your home?
Matt 12:29 says, “He who is not with me is against me, he who does not gather with me scatters abroad.”
Dear sister, why are you scattering what Jesus is doing in your home with external influence and advice?
When was the last time you took a decision based on the instructions from the bible?
When was the last time you surrendered yourself, your desires, decisions, plans, will etc to God?
If you attempt to solve the challenges in your home based on the strategies of the world, you are fighting a battle you will definitely lose.
Each family is different.
Each home is unique.
As such, the solution to each challenge is unique and peculiar.
This solution can only be obtained from God and His word.
My dear sister, forget about what they are saying out there. Listen to what God is saying. There is safety in God’s voice and there is eternal security in obedience to God’s voice.
May God grant you victory in your home in Jesus’ name.
