Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.
I long to dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
For you have heard my vows, O God;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
Our pastor at that time gave a memorable message that day about marriage. He said that when based upon God as the foundation, marriage can be a shelter and a refuge. That truth has stayed with me throughout our years of marriage. Anyone who has been married for longer than a few years knows the truth- life happens. You don't always have those giddy, lovey-dovey, barf-inducing days just following your wedding.
Jobs are difficult to find but bills have to be paid.
Doctors tell you it will be difficult if not impossible for you to conceive a child.
When you do conceive a child, you face the difficulty of sudden loss.
Difficulties arise in your area of ministry and you just don't know where God wants you.
After having a family, it's difficult to find any time to get a word in edgewise together!
Sicknesses come, the economy crumbles, loved ones die...the list goes on and on. Life is difficult sometimes! Marriage is difficult sometimes!
But through it all, God has been faithful. And through it all, our marriage has been a place of shelter and refuge from the world.
It's significant in my opinion that marriage is not easy. This fact has vast implications. I recently read the book Love and War by John and Stasi Eldredge and found this passage to be such a great explanation of marriage:
"We all know that loving is hard. Marriage is hard. It is hard because it is opposed. The devil hates marriage; he hates the beautiful picture of Jesus and his Bride that it represents. He hates love and life and beauty in all its forms. The world hates marriage. It hates unity and faithfulness and monogamy. Our flesh is not our ally here either- -it rebels when we put others before ourselves. Our flesh hates dying.
But God loves marriage! The Holy Trinity is for it. God loves intimacy, friendship, unity, self-sacrifice, laughter, pleasure, joy, and the picture of the Sacred Romance that you have the opportunity to present to the watching world. God is with you. He is for you. He commands you to love and he says that with him and in him all things are possible. Not easy. But possible. "
So there you have it- our marriages are often turned into a battleground, but that is because they are set in the midst of a war between good and evil. But as the Pastor said 10 years ago from this day, marriage, when based upon God as the foundation, can be a shelter and a refuge. That's the promise that we've lived by for a decade and we pray that promise over all of you today. Marriage can be a place of shelter and refuge...but the key is that God HAS to be the foundation. A marriage built upon anything less than God will crumble- sure, it might stay together, but it will be devoid of the joy and the unity that could have been. If you have a good marriage and want to make it even better, invite God to take His place at the center of it and see what happens!
My prayer for you today is for your marriage- that you embrace the beauty of loving another person deeply. And if you are not married today and dream that the day will come soon, I am praying that God will bring His dreams for your life to fruition- dreams more amazing than anything you ever imagined. God is good. He provides. He sustains. He heals. He loves. He is our ultimate shelter and refuge.
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