I don’t know what “the facilities” were on the ark but let’s imagine they involved a seat that raised and lowered…
Mrs wakes up. It is 2 AM. She throws back the cover and makes the silent trip to the little room she’s been visiting in the middle of the night for a few years now. She closes the door after entering, without turning on the lantern. Mrs is familiar with the routine, the room and knows where the throne is. No lighting of the lantern is necessary. A couple of clothing adjustments and she’s on her way to getting this trip over with while the rest of the household is still sleeping.
Then it happens. As she slumps further than she ever intended, too late to defy gravity, she realizes Noah has done it again. Rising and fuming, and taking the time to light the lantern, Mrs turns and stares at the evidence. He’s left the seat up. She fixes her clothes, outs the lantern and spends the next two hours rehearsing what she’s going to say to Noah in the morning.
*****
It’s happened to us all of us at least once. That sudden, cold, wet feeling we get in the dark of night when we share a bathroom with people of the opposite gender. Have you ever wanted to scream with the frustration? Ever wondered how men can rule the world and can’t manage that one small task of putting that seat down? Ever thought how inconsiderate “he” is?
Brace yourself. He likely isn’t being inconsiderate. Men don’t seek revenge or fight battles using the up seat as weapon. Most likely, his thoughts are moving ahead to the next task and he’s not remembering (apparently) that you’ve had this conversation a gazillion times before.
It seems like such a simple thing, doesn’t it? Ask yourself this question. Is it any less inconsiderate of us requiring that men put the seat down than it would be of them requiring us to leave the seat up? The seemingly important toilet seat debate can tell us something about ourselves. It says, all things and all abilities being equal, that we want our way. In the scheme of eternity, the position of the seat has no value. It only obtains value when we make it about us. There’s an enemy that would like to destroy Godly marriages, and he ain’t above using a plastic hinged seat to do it.
When we place such importance on small issues, we can lean toward getting our focus off the larger issues. Is our husband a good provider, a good father, a man of integrity who attempts to lead his family ? Those things have eternal value. These things notably will influence the generation you both are attempting to bring up together to live lives pleasing to God and bring them to a place of personal independence and success.
So focus on the big issues. Loving each other. Being kind to one another. Serving one another in the roles in which God has placed us is far more important than whether he leaves the seat up. After all, there are results of the seat being left down that we don’t like either…
Tomorrow…”You Expect Me to WHAT?”
Walk in Him and be blessed.
For His Glory 