Consider your home as wilderness

    As I was reading John Bevier's book "Growing Strong in Dry Times", I came to think that I should consider my church, and especially my home as wilderness.  There are two reasons for this.

The first reason why we should consider our home as wilderness is because our sins are exposed very vividly in our home.

Especially when I think about marital relations, I think that there is no place where all the sins of the couple can be exposed as much as the home.  Of course, it is true that when our sins are exposed, we are hurt and it is painful.  Of course, there is pain and sadness.  We can hurt each other deeply.  However, the married couples who use their home as wilderness can see through such painful processes how sinners live by the grace of God.  So they are thankful for God to expose their sins and they regard them as God’s grace.  And the couples who know the grace of God not only acknowledge their sins but also confront them as the holy God keep on exposing their ugly sins in their home.  Moreover, they confess that they are who they are because of God’s grace.  In the midst of that, they treat each other with the grace of God who loves such sinners like them.  They forgive each other's sins, and embrace and love each other with the heart of Heavenly Father.  But even this, they know they cannot do with their own strength, so they kneel down before the Lord and cry out to God.  As they cry out to God, they experience God’s grace and love so that they are able to treat each other with God’s grace and love.  Therefore, we must consider out home as wilderness.   It is because there is no place where all our sins can be exposed as much as our home.

The second reason why we should consider our home as wilderness is because we should fill each other's needs rather than ask for what we want from each other.

A home is not a place where the couples ask what they want from each other.  But we are constantly asking our spouse to satisfy our own needs.  But the problem is that when this desire is not satisfied from the other, the couple can complain and grumble and fight.  As the Israelites had been in the wilderness for forty years and felt that their desires would not be satisfied, they continued to complain and grumble to Moses and God.  These phenomena of the wilderness can be seen in our homes, especially in our marriage relationship.  What is the problem?  It is because the couples misunderstand that their home is the place where they ask for what they want from each other instead of fulfilling each other’s needs.  If our home is the place where the wife is keep on asking her husband what she wants and he keeps on asking her what he wants, then out of frustration, conflicts and disputes will not end in our home.  However, if we consider our home as wilderness, then we will devote ourselves to fulfill each other's needs rather than asking what we want from each other.  If the husband learns more about his wife's needs, and tries to fill her needs with Christ's love, then the wife will feel God's love through her husband.  In addition, as the wife learns more about her husband's needs and acknowledge his authority and submissive to him as the church does so to Jesus, then he will be encouraged and strengthened by her.  In doing so, the couple will experience the filling of their needs through each other and will be satisfied.  And they will give thanks to God and praise Him together.  Therefore, we must consider our home as wilderness.  It is because there is no other better place our home for the couple to satisfy each other's needs with the love of the Lord.

As I was reading John Bevier's book "Growing Strong in Dry Times", I was convinced to consider my home as wilderness.  It is my prayers that the Lord keeps on exposing my and my wife’s sins in our home.  Although there is pains, hurts and tears, it is my prayers that the Lord who is the Potter, continues to mold both of us so that we may devote ourselves to fulfill each other’s needs instead of keep on asking what we want from each other.  And I want to both of us to enjoy fulfilling each other’s needs.  May the Lord continue to build our home more toward perfection so that our home can be used by Him as a home witness community.