The Bible explicitly says that marriage is meant to be permanent.
So, live in the presence of God, who oversees your marriage. Living in His presence means not just “hearing” but also “living out” His Word.
“As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.” (Luke 6:47)
Getting married is going into unchartered waters, and it can be unsettling, causing fear of the unknown and the unpredictable.
“Do not fear. . . . When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” (Isaiah 43: 1-2)
Even Jesus said to His disciples caught in a violent storm: “Why are you so afraid?” before He commanded the waters to be still. (Matthew 8: 23-27)
So, if you genuinely believe that the two of you truly love each other, then go ahead and get married. There’s nothing to fear, except the fear of getting married.
Marital life is sometimes full of difficulties and disappointments that become bitterness. The best course of action is to pause, reflect, and then bury them, while praying to God to replace your bitterness with a sweet, joyful spirit to enable you to make the right decision about the next step to take. Making decisions in the heat of distress is rarely a good idea, and it often breeds only more hardship.
Life is full of many cycles—such as the vicious cycles of addiction and rehabilitation, including alcohol, drugs, gambling, and sex. But God’s love can break the cycles of your past, giving you a new future with faith, hope and strength to break even future cycles to come.
Living in the presence of God means you’re called to pursue both justice and mercy. But justice isn’t pursuing revenge, and mercy isn’t showing a lack of accountability. Instead, justice-and-mercy is moving forward with love that not only hates what is evil, but also longs for the transformation of self, as well as the one you love, that is, your marriage partner.
Living in the presence of God means you’ve the opportunity to listen to Him. However, that’s not enough: you’ve to put His Words “into practice.” Not putting “into practice” is like building a house “on sand” instead of “on rock.”
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:26-27)
So, if you build your marriage on any foundation other than the humble obedience to God’s Words, you’re only inviting troubles to your marriage.
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4)
Living in the presence of God is spiritual nourishment to help the spiritual renewal and fruitfulness in your marriage.
You may be struggling with patience, not just with your marriage partner, but also with the divine help from God. You’re not alone. Even the ancient prophet Habakkuk complained:
“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’
but you do not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2)
But some of God’s help and blessings to your marriage may be long to come. So, just have faith, and manifest your patience with trust and obedience, and His help will come one day.
You’re living in a world in which injustice and vengeance are rampant. Living in the midst of this storm of unfairness may cause you unhappiness and even your own lack of faith in God. Your accountability to your marriage and your marriage partner is as important as your accountability to God.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
“GETTING MARRIED TO MAKE YOU HAPPY?”
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