Jack Small Home Page

Wives, Submit Yourselves to Your Own Husbands

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.When God started leading me by his Spirit, he would guide me to certain scriptures, reveal them to my heart, and then I could walk in them. It was not this way with these verses. He did lead me to them, but I did not get a great revelation. There was no deep understanding. I simply understood they were a commandment and I needed to obey them.

What I found was these scriptures are easy to read, not so easy to do. When I first began making the effort to obey them, I would find myself in a war. Jack would ask me to do something simple such as “I would like pasta for dinner tonight.” Well, I would want to cook pork chops. I found the only thing I could do in those beginning days was go for a walk or get in my car and drive. I would drive to the end of the street and either turn right and head south toward Dallas, or usually, head north toward Sherman and pray until I could humble myself and do what I was asked. I cannot tell you how many drives or walks I took, but after a while it began to get easier to obey these verses.

Then “The Biggie” happened. I told Jack I was expecting our third child. Jack came back a couple of days later and told me we were going to have the baby at home, with a midwife, and then he told me the reason for his decision. I think I was polite, I really don’t remember, but I excused myself, got in the car, drove to the end of our street and then headed north---to Canada!

I was so hot I could not even talk. It just seemed safe to keep my mouth shut until I calmed down. There was 20 minutes of driving before I could even speak and then it was just “Thank you Jesus.” After praying this for a little while, my spirit finally settled and I began to pray. I started by listing for Jesus all the reasons why not to agree with my husband’s decision. And I did come up with a list! The first thing I tried was, “Who is he to tell me what to do with my body?” Well, I knew that wouldn’t work with Jesus, because Joseph made the decisions concerning Mary and the baby (himself, Jesus), not Mary. I then told God I did not think Jack’s reason for having the baby at home substantiated the risk involved. But I knew in my heart I wasn’t afraid to have the baby at home. My great grandmother was a midwife and when my grandmother went into labor she would hang a white sheet on her porch to let the women across the hills know it was time to come and assist her. The more I prayed the more I understood what the problem really was. It wasn’t fear, and it wasn’t Jack. I could now be honest with God. I believed people used a midwife when they couldn’t afford a real doctor. I saw I associated having a baby at home with poverty. And I was full of poverty. It seemed to follow me around and was part of every aspect of my life. I was trying to escape it and now it looked like I was going to have to walk in it again.

I kept praying. I prayed until I knew I could humble myself and agree with what Jack wanted, but I said these words to my Father, “I will do what my husband is asking me to do, but I hold you responsible for me and the baby.” I knew the Father heard me. I was able to turn around and head home. On the way back the Father ministered to me these words:

5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. (2 Corinthians 8:5)

This verse also relates to women. That is what I did when I spoke those words to the Father. My faith is not in my husband, it is in Jesus and what He did for me. I submit myself to my husband because it is the will of God. It takes faith for a woman to do this, and as in all things, it is from faith to faith (Romans 1:17).

The pregnancy was without issue. The birth is a story in itself, but when it came time for the actual delivery, the Spirit of God was there with me and the Power of God on me. John was born without any problems and is now a tall 15 year old “strappin’ Texan”.

I want to thank God for the grace and mercy He granted me to walk in these verses. I want to thank Him also for the blessings the obedience to these verses brings.

You may email Kathie Small at Kathie3@jacksmall.com

Back to Kathie