Interesting little revelation I had this morning — obedience to God is as easy as having sex.
Bear with me.
I was reading in Judges 13 about a couple by the name of Manoah and wife. She’s not named, just called “his wife.” They were to become the parents of a really famous dude by the name of Samson.
Manoah’s wife couldn’t have children. This wasn’t good in those days. In fact, it was quite bad; it made her a second-class citizen and was a constant reminder whenever anyone saw her that her hubby had made a really bad bargain when he had negotiated to have her as his wife.
Her life must have been a constant torment. How many nights did she cry herself to sleep because of her “failure” to produce offspring? How many times a day would she put herself down because of her “shame.” When bearing children is THE way that society measures your value and worth, the inability to produce one stamps you “REJECT” and carries a stigma only slight less than that of an adulterer.
One day, while minding her own business, an angel appears to her. Not a pastor, not a televangelist, but a stinkin’ angel! And not just any angel but THE Angel of the Lord. Go back and read some of the stories in Genesis and Exodus. This is the same fellow that appeared to the likes of Abraham and Moses and here he is talking to “the wife.” We don’t even know her name! But SHE merits a visit from one of the most prestigious characters in all of history.
What he tells her blows her socks off. “You will soon become pregnant.”
She leaves him standing there and runs off to find Manoah. He seems to have done the typical man thing: instead of celebrating with her, he grills her. “Who was he? What was his name? Where was he from?” Wife responds that she doesn’t know and doesn’t care — “HE told ME I was going to receive the desire of my life. Now you get busy and do your part!”
Hubby doesn’t believe her, says that he wants to see the angel himself. Not only does the angel come back, he in essence tells Manoah, “you’re an idiot.” He proves he’s who he says he is and hubby almost wets on himself — “we’re going to die!”
Side note: don’t you find it interesting that the wife had no problem accepting the angel’s words at face value but the man had to have it proven to him, AND, once proven, instead of being happy, runs in the exact opposite direction in his interpretation of the event?
At this point wife says “put up or shut up.” Manoah makes love to her and voila! Baby.
I’ve discovered that obedience usually does happen this way. God wants to bless us, let us come out and play with him. Sometimes we’re all excited about it; most times we’re not. What’s so ironic is that what we so often perceive as onerous can actually take us to extreme, dare I say, orgasmic, levels. Manoah showed us that obedience to God is as easy as sex . . . and quite rewarding, too! 🙂