One of the most gracious things God has done in the world is inventing marriage. I say “invent” because it goes all the way back to the beginning. God placed Adam in a perfect environment called the Garden of Eden. Everything was placed at his fingertips. He had a place to live, a purpose to live for, protection. He had everything he needed. God knew something was missing. He looked at Adam and said, “It is not good…” That is the first time God had ever said that regarding his creation. “It is not good for man to be alone.” Man’s oldest problem is aloneness.
What is God saying? Being single is bad? Of course not. The Bible teaches the exact opposite of that. What He is saying is that God never meant for anybody to be alone. So God, in his graciousness, made Adam a wife. Not to complete him, but to be a companion go through life together. By the way, that’s also one of the reasons for a faith community…people alone, are never alone.
One of the catchphrases I hear happy couples say is, “It is a great thing to do life together.”Life refers to the good, bad, ugly, and “wish we could forget that incident.” In all of it, remember that God designed it from the beginning. It was his idea. He thought it up for your happiness and not your pain. He didn’t design it to be perfect. God uses marriage as a grand illustration of grace and forgiveness.
My wife, Janet is a living illustration of grace. For example, I tend to be impulsive. I would rather use the word spontaneous, but impulsive fits. I have a habit of inviting people over for a meal BEFORE asking my wife. Enough said! Having every right to lay into me and my impetuous and careless invitations, she graciously opens our home to guests…every time. Now I’m getting better, mostly because she’s making me better. Grace does that.