Iron Sharpens Iron: Cover Her: How to Create a Safe Place for the Ladies in your Life
Rod Hairston
3/21/2015
We need to learn how to manage our man-strength, to cover our ladies in our lives.
Are they safe with us?
4 areas of concern:
1. Physical
2. Emotional
3. Spiritual
4. Financial
The idea of covering comes from God. He has commanded us to offer hospitality to strangers.
While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him." The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this outrageous thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don't do such an outrageous thing." But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home. When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, "Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!" (Judges 19:22-30 NIV)
There was a lack of leadership in the land at that time.
This woman was a concubine of a Levite. But this woman was not covered.
Are we providing a safe place for our women?
But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents' home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents' home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. His father-in-law, the woman's father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there. (Judges 19:2-4 NIV)
We need to be more protective of our daughters as fathers.
Establish ground rules for daughter's dates.
Don't sit in silence and be passive.
Our daughters look to us for protection. We need to screen who comes in.
We are essentially responsible for all the women in our lives.
We have the most critical role in society.
We can't let a sixteen year old talk us out of our responsibility. It's better to be over the top (in their mind) and still be in the picture.
We need to be more sensitive to our wive's needs.
They may be on the threshold, and we aren't aware of her background situation. We need to provide reassurance and comfort, to cover her.
Our God covers us.
Are we strong enough to communicate tenderly to our wives?
Lionel
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