“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Gen. 1:27
“For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.” Rom. 8:29
Each of us, created in Christ’s image, are now being conformed and transformed into His likeness. This is some serious business! And God stops at nothing to accomplish His goal in our lives, personally orchestrating a symphony of events, circumstances, and relationships, which produce a divine melody in this ultimate objective.
One of His favorite means of conforming and transforming us is through significant relationships in our lives, marriage in particular. Likened to the saying, “God didn’t make marriage to make us happy, He made marriage to make us grow up”; God uses our most treasured relationships as His conduit for change. And it is in the marriage relationship specifically, beyond any other human relationship, that our character is most tested and refined. (It’s no wonder that Paul desired to remain single! 1Cor. 7:32)
Marriage, more than an other relationship, will test us to our core…testing our patience, our willingness to forgive, our ability to submit to another’s desires, our sensitivity and love towards others, and our integrity to the promise that we made on our wedding day. And there is no other relationship when lived out to God’s intended design, produces a greater picture of the Trinity and His relationship with His bride, us. ~~It’s no wonder Satan attacks marriage. When we say “I DO”, we tend to think “bliss forevermore”, but in reality, we’ve just picked a fight of cosmic proportions. (Again, it’s no wonder that Paul desired to remain single!)
Each of us, married or single, are profoundly influenced (positively and negatively) by the marriages around us…our parents, our relatives, our friends. When married couples we love struggle, we too experience pain … conversely, when couples we love are mirroring Christ’s passion in their relationships, we too are lifted to a higher plane. ~~And right now in our lives, God seems to be performing a miracle with Shaun’s parent’s brokenness, as they work to “reconcile and finish strong” in their marriage of 49 years.
It's been an extremely difficult number of years for our personal family, but Friday evening we got together as family for the first time in nearly 3 years. Although trust still needs to be built, we had a wonderful evening full of laughter and stories as we celebrated our Shannon’s birthday…together.
Jimmy Evans says, “Before marriage will make you happy it will make you grow up. And when you are experiencing marriage problems it is often the Lord dealing with a character issue.” We whole heartedly agree.
God bless you! ~ Shaun and Betsy
