Marriage Part 2

Continuing on from the Focus on Marriage Simulcast by Focus on the Family:



Beth Moore spoke on submission. Ephesians 5:21-33.

Submission is not about inequality. It is about order. Something with 2 heads is a monster. She said Tony Evans gave a great definition of submission: learning to duck so that God can hit your husband.



She also talked about getting our identity from our husbands. What if we got our identity from Christ instead? What if everyday I got filled up with Christ, knowing I am loved, valued and cherished by Christ, instead of draining my husband dry trying to get all my needs met by him?



Something else that Mike and I have done is to hang out with couples who also want to make it. It is encouraging and uplifting to know we are not the only ones who have been through the valley, but also to know that we learned so much and can encourage and KNOW what others are going through. To know we have really messed up, but today is a new day. We are not just well, we are healed. We are miracles. That is what gives people hope.


Del Tacket spoke. He is the spokesperson for the Truth Project. I highly recommend doing the Truth Project. It teaches about living a Christian worldview in today's world.


Anyway, he talked about creation and how God would create something and say "It is good." Then their was a divine pause after man was created. "It is not good for man to be alone."


Why not?

Because what God has made reveals Him. Aloneness is contrary to God's nature.

Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge...
Job 12:7-9 "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

What do we see? Immense diversity and astounding unity. It is an ordered diversity, there are systems in place (like the solar system, water cycles, our bodies with all of their systems-skeletal, muscular, cellular, circulatory, nervous...) We also see relationship. Everything is in relationship. Protons, neutrons, electrons, blood clotting, weather... But nothing is more grand than the human relationship. It is all about relationship. God sets the example of relationship in the Trinity. The Triune God has the perfect relationship. In the Triune we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father and Son are One. Father and Son sends the Holy Spirit. Son submits to the Father, Father loves the Son. Husband and wife are one. Children come from husband and wife. Wife submits to the husband. Husband loves the wife. It is a beautiful picture and I wish that I could draw it out.

One last thing Dr Tacket mentioned that I found very interesting: If prayers feel like they are bouncing off of the ceiling, men, check your relationship with your wife. 1Peter 3:7 says "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wife, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."

God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) It destroys the image of God that He stamped on the family. Divorce is a serious issue with God, and the consequences are deep.

My prayer is for God to show us afresh the relationship we have with our spouses. To comfort and provide guidance in our marriages and for us to be a light for those around us.