About men: They have to do something, but also need a burning bush experience

It is generally not easy for a man to simply do nothing. When they are still boys, even doing the wrong things beats doing nothing and as a result they are often in trouble. Look I know there are exceptions to every generalisation, but most guys I know, myself included, feel very uncomfortable with inaction.

If you wnat to see what I mean, watch what happens to men when they are out of work. Some climb the wall, some go right over the wall, others just slump against the wall in misery and a few, like Winston Churchill express their pain by building a new wall. Its a very tough thing for a guy, because rightly or wrongly he is conditioned by life to be a provider. It is tough to let go of that and look to God as our provider - most men will really battle to make that transition, even very spiritual men.

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Its partly because of these instincts that men in trouble tend to retreat into their caves, because they feel so ashamed when they can no longer provide. It doesn't matter how other see it, they will see themselves as failures.

To be honest, no woman can truly understand these issues. Moving into a career is a step up for a woman and losing a job merely brings her back to her comfort zone - and I have found that many, maybe most women are confortable with that. Amazingly, that makes them more alluring to future job providers, because they are less likely to come across in interviews as desperately unemployed. It is not so for a guy.

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A man's identity is so linked to what he does, taking that away can destroy him. What I mean is that, since forever, men were known by their work, Jack the Smith or John the Baker or Jim the Butcher or Pat the Postman.

It was never so for women and even today it is hardly a deal-breaker for them, because they just don't have as deep a need. They are more secure in their identities, because they have a more internalised frame of reference - womanhood and motherhood is full of rich identifiers that generally enjoy the approval of other woman and the admiration of men. Men don't have such luxuries.

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Now the upshot of this is that God will often cut a man down and force him into a place of standing still, because otherwise they will not listen or even stop to hear. They are not comfortable with sitting and listening and church is often a very counter-intuitive experience for a guy.

I can only say, as a man who was cut down and left to tread water for a good few years, that if you don't stop when He says stop, you will crash and burn out or at least compound the crises you already have. You can fight God if you want, but you won't win.

All the great men of the bible were sent into personal wildernesses to wrestle with God until they heard His still small voice. It is flipping tough to go there and yet, contradictory as it may sound, doing nothing at times like that can be your most constructive response to crisis.

We have to appreciate that God is Holy and we show that holiness by leaving our shoes and all our related agendas outside until His fire burns in us again.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.net
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