On Sunday I was supporting two brothers giving deliverance ministry to a man who was severely possessed. It went on a long time as demon after demon was expelled. It was quite a gruelling experience for the man involved. But I noticed a beautiful thing; my two brothers were immensely encouraging and warm and they knew how to reach the man’s heart with tender words of encouragement. It reminded me of the words of Paul as he wrote to the Thessalonians: ‘But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. ‘(1 Thessalonians 2:7) Such a heart is no surrender of masculinity. Indeed it is the heart of God Himself: "Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. (Isaiah 49:15)
I felt so heartened: men loving men, purely, tenderly, gently, from the heart. Masculine strength: strength you can trust and lean on yourself. I have no problem being led by such men.
And then, only a breath away, Paul continues his words of advice to the Thessalonians, this time exchanging feminine images for masculine ones: “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children.” (1 Thessalonians 2:11) Fatherliness, motherliness, perhaps we all need a mixture of the two - mothers included!
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