The Original June Cleaver + Purpose = Victory

"Meanwhile Sisera, running for his life, headed for the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite … Jael stepped out to meet Sisera and said, "Come in, sir. Stay here with me. Don't be afraid."  So he went with her into her tent. She covered him with a blanket.  He said to her, "Please, a little water. I'm thirsty."  She opened a bottle of milk, gave him a drink, and then covered him up again. Then while he was fast asleep from exhaustion, Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg and hammer, tiptoed toward him, and drove the tent peg through his temple and all the way into the ground. He convulsed and died.   - Judges 4:17-21, The Message

To re-cap …  sung by Deborah and Barak:

Most blessed of all women is Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of homemaking women.  He asked for water, she brought milk; In a handsome bowl, she offered cream. [Amplified: “she brought him curds in a lordly dish.”]  
- Judges 5:24,25 The Message

Ah yes, powerful things can be done for the Lord even within the home!  Thanks, Jael, for showing us how to do it better than any home improvement authority or kitchen connoisseur.

Jael’s advice on any homemaking reality TV show might be:  

“Have in one manicured hand your prettiest serving bowl and in your other, the most tempting, scrumptious treat.  You know, the kind reserved when you want to impress someone or really treat them well?  The kind you keep from your family because 'it’s for a guest.'

"And then, tucked into the back pocket of your best skinny jeans or spring’s linen crop pants or frilly apron strings, you’ve got your very own hammer.  Pink is a fun option.”

But all serving bowls and pink hammers aside, Jael’s story speaks of the importance of being content in the place in life where you are right now and to know how to use the tools that accompany that current life station.

If Jael had spent her homemaking years crying over spilled milk and wishing she was a prophetess like Deborah holding court under her palm trees or wishing she was a military leader like Caleb…

If Jael had directed her focus to what other people were doing for God instead of learning the tools of her trade, she would have indeed served Bad Commander Sisera only water, or at the very worst, dried up curdly milk remnants.  In a cracked bowl. 

But because she served him milk (or “curds in a lordly dish”) instead of his requested water, he was actually able to succumb to his weariness and take a nap while in the very act of fleeing from his pursuers bent on killing him!  Every mother knows that warm milk helps to bring relaxation, fills a belly just enough, calms the plummeting blood sugar.

Add to Jael’s soothing mothering skills and tasteful kitchen knowledge that could have impressed even June Cleaver, Jael’s knowledge of how to use a tent peg and a hammer sealed the deal.  Imagine if she didn’t know how to steady a tent peg in just the right angle to securely pin its target (aka, take care of her home)?  Or if she didn’t know how to use a hammer – what if she had hit her thumb?  Only one shot at hitting Sisera’s peg on the head.

 

We should be encouraged to be content with the place God has us in right now and to learn how to use the tools accompanying that place.

If it’s a cookbook, mixer and spice rack – so be it!  You could begin to speak to the heart of your unsaved neighbor over a simmering plate of chicken cacciatore.

If it’s a child’s potty chair, washable crayons and sticky fingers … or a classroom, chalkboard dust and textbooks, so be it!  You are raising young people of which who knows the tribes and nations they might impact one day?

If it’s a computer keyboard, boardrooms and corporate meetings, so be it!  Opportunities arise to speak into a life or circumstance to which no one else holds privilege.

Be in your tent.  Armed and knowledgeable.  Full of faith.  Be called blessed.