Page 109 - Sarah's Children

The minister began to build the fence and he would ask the young man for a board,
or some nails and the young man would bring them over. Building a fence is a very
repetitious chore and one would expect that this young man would catch on quickly
and he would anticipate what his employer needed next, but he never acted as if he
did. After a short while it should have been obvious that the minister was going to
need a board next, or some more nails, or some other thing, but the young man never
anticipated his wishes. He always had to be asked to bring another board. He always
had to be asked to do everything.

Needless to say, the minister’s experience with this young man was not satisfying to
him. The job went much slower than it could have had the young man made himself
more useful.

In relating this story, the minister was actually speaking of the calling of those under
authority to make those over them successful. Whether the authority is on the job,
in the home, or in some other sphere of life, those under authority should have the
goal of making those in authority as successful as possible.

If this had been the young man’s goal he would have tried to anticipate what he could
do to make the fence building proceed with the greatest efficiency. He could have
anticipated his employer’s needs and he could have been ready to hand him a board
without needing to be asked. He could anticipate when nails were running low and
fetch some more without being instructed to do so. He could have in many ways
brought a greater success to the one who hired him.

Why did the young man not do so? It was most likely because the young man was
self-focused. He was not working to make his employer successful, he was working
to earn some money for himself. He was oblivious to anything but his own desires
and goals. He simply wanted to get through the day and collect his money.

In the same way, many wives are self-absorbed. They are consumed with thoughts
of what they desire to get out of life and what they can do to get there. At times their
husbands will ask them to do something that will throw a wrench in their own plans,
and then the stage is set for them to decide whether they will live for their own
desires, or whether they will be subject to their husbands as to the Lord.

It is the rare wife who will subject her will to her husband’s, freely and without
murmuring or complaining. There is a remnant who are seeking to be obedient, but
if a wife merely obeys when asked to do so, she has done no better than the young
man who helped this minister build his fence. She has not really applied herself to
making her husband successful.