Genesis 2:22 And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
To discover God's plan for marriage, let's return to Genesis 2. As we revisit the Garden of Eden, we watch the drama unfold. God makes Adam, but then says, "It isn't good for man to be alone; I will make a companion for him, a helper suited to his needs"(see v. 18). God causes a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. He takes one of his ribs and fashions it into the woman. There is a picture of completeness, and I also believe it's a picture of oneness because man and woman are made from the same material.
But now we have an all-important question: How would Adam receive Eve? The way many read the familiar Genesis account, Adam's response seems rather ho-hum: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (v. 23). But I like The Living Bible paraphrase: "This is it!" In other words, Adam was excited-he was beside himself!
Now, obviously, Eve looked pretty good to Adam. That's why he said, "This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." She definitely looked better to him than all the animals he had just named, but there is a cornerstone principle for marriage here that we don't want to miss: Adam had faith in God's integrity.
Eve had done nothing to earn Adam's response. Adam knew only one thing about Eve-she was a gift from the God he knew intimately. Adam simply accepted her because God made her for him, and he knew that God could be trusted.
Today, God wants us to receive the spouse He has custom made for us. He can still be trusted.
To reject your mate is to reflect negatively on the character of God. It's as though you are saying, "God, You slipped up, You didn't know what You were doing when You provided this person for me." Rejection of your mate for weakness, or for any other reason, is disobedience toward God and failure to fulfill His plan and purpose for your life.
Will you receive your spouse as God's gift for you?
Prayer: Thank God for His gift to you of your spouse.
Discuss: Is there anything about your mate that you don't accept? Are there areas in which you don't feel accepted by your mate?
6 comments:
For those that know me well, they will understand this comment:
DUDES, "To reject your mate is to reflect negatively on the character of God."
There you have it. Pretty simple, and when you put it in these kind of terms, it seriously changes my outlook.
Thank you Father for Your direction.
cas
ps - apparently I freaking my better half out with my helpfulness this week
Rejection of your mate for weakness, or for any other reason, is disobedience toward God and failure to fulfill His plan and purpose for your life.
This whole marriage thing is tough. Giving it this perspective helps to make it easier.
Guys, I would love to be a fly on the wall when Clark freaks his wife out... that would be nice reality TV.
This marriage thing is tough, I'm praying that we can continue to encourage each other not only through this blog but also in person...
BTW, my wife's surgery has been postponed until early May. Pray that I wont relax and put off serving her and encouraging (not yelling) the kids to do the same.
I think the societal expectation of marriage is that IF you marry the "right" person all the rest will be easy. So when tough times hit, we must have married the "wrong" person.
Gary Thomas' book Sacred Marriage really lays that lie to rest quite biblically. Our spouse should be received AND they should help challenge our spiritual life (call it constructive chaos at times).
I really like this devo. It is a great privilege to be able to receive my wife as God's grace to me.
Got to go on my first date in a few months last night (geographic reasons), and it was awesome. We were talking about all the aspects that were really different about each other and how most of the traits that each other nuts (stubbornness, calmness in what shoud be a crazy time, strong will) has actually taught the other person how to be a better person in job or parenting situations. We didn't use those words, but yes God has found us both the perfect mate and the perfect complement.
crb
ER you said a mouthfull. We are bombarded with the expectation that if we married the right person there is no work to be done. Marriage will always demand work. Work is not however a four letter word, well literally it is. Work is good it means that we don't just go along we think and pray and talk with the person that God has blessed us to get through this life with.
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