She
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he browses among the lilies.
Do you trust your husband enough to let him go down to the garden, to the beds of spices – and then let him just BROWSE among the lilies?
Isn’t it a nice thought that our husband could be so relaxed and engaged to “browse.” Browse implies looking intentionally with refreshing enjoyment.
“May I help you?”
“No, just browsing.”
Just admiring, considering, looking, enjoying….
Nothing is off limits when you browse. You can look at things all too wonderful or expensive or impractical for you. You can imagine what you might do with this or that. Instead of worrying about the moment, you can gather new ideas to store away for later. It engages the eyes, the mind, and the other senses – “Does the smell delight me?”, “Do I like how it feels?” There are no preconceived expectations or to do lists. It is just “browsing.”
The question is, do we trust our husband enough to let him just BROWSE? Which take us to another question…
Do you love yourself and your body enough to believe that your husband would want to BROWSE in the garden?
I think our husbands can tell us over and over again that they love browsing in our garden, and we can still find ourselves wandering, “Does he really like this?” “What about the smell and the taste?” ” Are you sure it is not gross?” “Hasn’t it been too long?”
Ultimately we have to love our own body before we can really believe that our husband would love our body. I wrote an article called Do you love yourself and I think this a huge deal. We have to realize how amazing our bodies are and that our genitals are not just a bunch of random flaps of skin that trap germs and smell. Our bodies change and engorge as an expression of our arousal and excitement. Whether you realize it or not, your husband is thrilled by how your body responds. So if you don’t love yourself, you need to ask yourself why and replace those lies with truth. Do not negate who God is by negating His perfect creation – you!
Put Into Action
- Ask your husband about your garden. Does he ever notice changes? Do your lips change? Does the color change? Can he tell when you are getting aroused?
- Pray Psalm 139:14 over your genitals. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
- Tell your husband that you want to give your body to him and that you want him to have the freedom to browse in your garden without you worrying and then pray about it together.
- Buy a piece of artwork for your bedroom that will remind you to let your husband browse.
The Author
