Today is a very good day. Well, its Friday, of course. And, in my world, Friday is one of the best days of the week. Friday is the beginning of rest. Friday means I am almost finished with the week. Friday is the day when my marriage is not competing with work, children, school, play dates, lunch meetings, assignments, etc. And, it feels so good when I can focus on my marriage completely with no distractions.
Distractions take me away from the true meaning of marriage. The reasons why God wanted me to marry in the first place. Many people marry to get-it-on anytime anywhere because they are trying to keep themselves pure. Some people get married to have someone to take care of them. There are others who get married to have children. And, then there are some who get married to cross another thing off of their to-do list.
God has another plan as He always does. He designed marriage to reflect the relationship Christ has with His bride, the Church. It astonishes me that God wanted a human relationship with all of its me-ness, selfishness, and flesh-ness to represent the beauty of pure love Christ has for the Church. Christ died on the cross for His Church. He did it before the Church even asked. He did it before the Church got itself right. He did it to save the Church from damnation. Christ gave His own blood for the Church. He saved the Church.
That is just a powerful statement. And, when you look at the above paragraph and change the words the Church to me. It becomes more profound. God loves me. God loves me so much that He sent His Son to die on a cross for my sins before I even was born.
Romans 5:8 says but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This verse comes after several other verses (Romans 5:3 -7) which speaks about joy in tribulation. These verses explain that tribulation brings patience. Patience brings character. Character (experience) brings hope. And hope makes you not ashamed. Wow, what a mouthful.
In marriage, there will be some tribulation. Most people do not understand that fact. Or, either they will completely ignore it. And, that’s what gets them in trouble during the tough times. You will not always agree with your spouse, see things their way, or even respond the way they would. God made you to have your own thoughts, ideas, and reasoning. God wanted you to pollinate your mate. Sprinkle a little you on them. Make them even better. Now, don’t go thinking that goes only one way. Your spouse also is there to pollinate you. Sharpen you. Make you even better. He did not want the two of the same. God likes variety; it makes life more interesting. And, it helps others get better.
God loves us too much to leave us in ignorance; He wants us to comprehend that life will not be without ups and downs. Those down times (tribulation) are needed, so that we can have patience. Yes, patience. Did you know that patience means the art of being patient? And, patient means bearing trials calmly without complaint.
Ok. Wait a minute. God wants me to face the trials (tribulations) in my life without complaining. Complaining is what gets me through the day. I need to vent to someone about this crazy messed up mess that is going on in my life today. But, no! God does not want me to complain. How on earth does He plan on doing that?
By making me someone’s spouse that’s how He will accomplish it. God joined you together to your spouse to make one spiritual entity. This is called a miracle in Ephesians 5: 32. And, in this miracle God shows the world how He loves them through Christ. Christ leads, loves, and serves the Church. He leads the Church to God. He loves the Church by dying for it on the cross. And, He serves the Church by ministering to it like Jesus did for the disciples. This part of the marital relationship is handled through the position of husband except for service which is jointly handled by both spouses. The Church in turn is reverently subjected to Christ. And, this part of the marital relationship is handled through the position of wife.
As we are serving God by serving our spouse in our position of wife or husband, God is perfecting our character. And, who would argue with God about needing more character. Ok, I know, I know, you would and I would too! But, that’s another article. God wants us to be able to stand before anyone and have His character shine through us. And, that requires us to build patience. Now, before I forget, I want to let you know if you need patience, please do ask for it. But, when you do, know that God has made it that the only way to get patience is through trials.
And, get this; our experiences (character) bring hope – not Obama y’all! God builds up our character so we can see hope which is the omnipotent God. The only God who has unlimited authority and influence over everything. He is our hope. God can change, rearrange, and sustain all of our situations. And, that should give us hope.
Now that we have hope, we can stand unashamed that we serve God. We serve the God who sent His Son, Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. And, Jesus died before we could even ask him to wipe away all the bad stuff we did, do and will do. And, even that stuff we thought was good or rather felt good, Jesus died for that stuff too!
Only a spouse is close enough to force you to go through all of that. If it was anyone else, you would have walked away, cut them out of your life, or deleted them from you facebook account. You wouldn’t have stood for it. You would have run for the hills or rather chased those people out of town. Because God placed you into a covenant relationship and you want to honor it. You stay and allow your marriage to reflect to the world Christ’s relationship to the Church. And, your marriage shows people God is real. Your marriage is a testimony to the greatness of God.
And, because I want to know God so intimately that I am never ashamed to say I am His child. I will spend time focused on my marriage this weekend with no distractions. Hey, maybe it’s time for a honey-vacation (no kids). Family, can you keep the kids this weekend? And, I will go snuggle close to my husband and delight in the joys of married life. And, for all that all I can say is THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY!
