Be Her Strength

Have you ever thought there might be some reason why men are stronger than women? I don’t mean so that we can beat them at wrestling, nor so that we can use our strength to take advantage of them. No, everything has a purpose, and if God designed men stronger than women, He had a reason for doing so.

In addition to our natural physical strength, there’s a trained inner strength that men are supposed to have as well. In just about any culture you can examine, both modern and ancient, boys are taught that “men don’t cry.” Why is that? Could it be something more than machismo, and maybe be something we need? Could it be that men need to have an inner strength of character, so that we can use it for the benefit of our families?

The American Old West is a great example of the need for both physical strength and inner strength working together. The pioneers who settled the old west had to work hard to clear land, plant crops, herd cattle, build homes and essentially just to survive. On top of that, there was constant danger from Indian attacks, wild animals, the climate and even bandits. One needed strength of character to face these things, and not back down from them.

Okay, so today we don’t have too many marauding Indians or mountain lions roaming the streets of our cities, that doesn’t mean that danger doesn’t exist. It only means that the dangers we face today are more subtle than those of the past. There is still need for that inner strength.

A military officer is trained that they can’t show fear in front of the men they command. It doesn’t matter if they have fear; in fact a little fear keeps us from taking foolish risks. But, showing that fear in front of the troops is a no-no. The men need to be able to have confidence in their leaders and especially in their officers. If they are showing fear, it destroys the men’s confidence and makes them fearful.

What do we face today? More than anything we face the fear of loss; losing our jobs, losing our homes, losing our lives as we know them. With the economy still in a shambles, there is still plenty of risk and plenty of reason to have fear. But, just as with those military officers, when we show fear in the face of adversity, we destroy our family’s ability to have confidence in us. I’m not suggesting that we walk in foolishness, turning a blind eye to the problem. No, what I’m suggesting is that we have faith in God and confidence in our own ability to overcome the problem.

I’m also suggesting that we be pro-active for those problems. As men, when we don’t see an answer to a problem, we have a tendency to put it on the shelf, ignoring it. That shows our wives that they can’t have confidence in us. On the other hand, when they see that we are attacking the problem head-on, they know they can trust in us to take care of it.

Be a man, be her strength; be the one she knows she can lean on when times are troubled.