What I Learned From Anna Duggar

Last week Josh Duggar did what you and I will most likely never have to do: he faced the consequences of his sin in front of the entire world. In the background was his wife Anna, the life she thought she knew crumbling before her eyes. Josh knew what he did in secret. Anna, however, was unaware she was strapped to a ticking time bomb until it actually went off.

My heart aches for Anna. As a Christian stay-at-home mom with four little ones I feel like I know her. I know how she probably shops and meal plans and juggles church and family – and how she looks to her husband for strength.

The world was not shocked by the news. It was delighted by it. The world expects Christians to be hypocrites and waits for every opportunity to expose them. But Christian wives all over the nation have been shaken. How could this happen to someone like Anna? She’s not a Kardashian. She’s a domestic, homeschooled, 26-year-old, mother of four. She dresses modestly and shops at thrift stores. She values family and selflessly serves her husband.

So…

…didn’t she follow the right recipe? 

If that’s the way we think of Anna then we have fallen into a deadly trap: the trap of finding our security in something other than Christ.

It’s so easy to turn godly goals into idols without even realizing it. We put our kids in the right programs, we volunteer for the right ministries, and we check off our “good wife” duties. Suddenly these become gods that should protect us. If we have all of our ducks in a row our kids will turn out okay. Our husbands will be faithful to us. We will fly under the radar and avoid scandal and heartbreak and broken families.

Right?

As Christian wives we all fall prey to this false sense of security. If you’re like me you cringed when you saw the rug pulled out from under Anna because you didn’t think she deserved it. But in reality what happened to Anna was caused by sin. We can never build walls high enough to keep sin out because sin ultimately comes from within. The only deliverance we have from sin is Christ. In Him every sin is forgiven and we are treated as blameless. While still vulnerable to the pain of sin in this life, our heavenly reward remains untouched.

Tonight I tucked in four sweet, robust little boys. My husband bought me my favorite candle and asked me about my day. I am unbelievably blessed. But there is a difference between thankfulness and idolatry and I don’t want to cross that line. I do cross it all the time. I know because instead of soaking up the joy of my blessings I’m often anxiously thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I want to hold on tightly to these gifts He’s given me and never let go.

What happened to Anna – and what happens to many women – reminds us to hold everything in this world loosely. Nothing in this life offers us true security. Not our husbands, not our children, not our church affiliations, not our dress codes.

That might sound terrifying, but it’s actually the most comforting news we could ever hear.

Ask a mom who has lost a child.

Ask a wife who has lost a husband.

Ask Anna.

What is under your feet right now, moms? Is it the shifting sand of dependency on people and your own good choices? Or is it Christ, the Everlasting Rock? He is strong enough for Anna and He is strong enough for us.

“Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” (Isaiah 26:4)

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Looking for a Bible study that offers practical theology for busy moms? Check out “The Gospel-Centered Mom,” available on Etsy and Amazon.

 

Photo credit: http://19-kids-and-counting.wikia.com/wiki/Anna_Duggar