When I was a teenager, I was very eager to tell others about Christ. Sometimes, on the weekend I would travel to other parts of the Southeast to lead Bible studies for teenagers I had led to Christ. With my sleeping bag and a few cans of tuna in the backseat of my ‘63 Chevy Belair, I felt prepared to go anywhere. By contrast, my high school studies seemed less than exciting. So, I approached my dad with what I am sure he must have found a somewhat amusing request: “Dad, I really believe the time is short and the Lord is coming soon. I’d like your permission to drop out of school so I can spend all my time traveling and preaching.”
Rather than dismissing my request out of hand, my dad wisely responded, “I will only agree to give you my blessing on one condition. You must promise you will never under any circumstances get married. If you want to live a life of poverty, that’s your decision, but God would never want you to fail to provide for your family when it is within your means to do so. If you don’t get an education, you won’t be able to provide for a family properly. Before you give me your decision, I want you to go to your room and pray about it. Make sure God is calling you to be single.”
I went to my room, knelt by my bed and told the Lord I didn’t want to stay in school. I wanted to travel and preach. I was willing to be single for the rest of my life, if that was God’s will for me. Immediately, the thought came vividly to mind, “Read Genesis.” I dismissed it and continued to pray. “Lord, I want to do your will. Show me your plan for my life.” Again, the thought came clearly, “Read Genesis.” I continued to pray, but the thought wouldn’t go away. “Read Genesis.” Frustrated, I wondered what possible answer I would find in Genesis, but I began reading in chapter one. When I came to chapter two verse eighteen, the words seemed to jump off the page:
“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
And, again in verses twenty-four and twenty-five, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
I jumped to my feet and began praising God. He had answered my prayer for direction. Even though it meant I had to stay in school, I knew from that moment he was preparing a helpmeet for me. I have now been married for over forty-four years, and I am so grateful to God that his plan for my life was better than I imagined.
In Matthew 19 when the Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce, he took them to these same verses from Genesis: “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
This is the plan of our Creator God. Our wise heavenly Father had a purpose in mind when he designed our bodies and personalities to complement one another. If we fail to understand God’s plan and instead take our cues from the society around us, we will end up making the same kind of mistakes other sinners have made before us. If, on the other hand, we look to God for direction and for strength to do his will, we find that marriage is a wonderful gift to enrich our lives and the lives of those around us.
The extent to which our marriage provides our children, neighbors and acquaintances with an accessible picture of God’s grace is of eternal significance. To the extent that we fail, we dishonor God and make it more difficult for people to see his glory. If you are married, you have been given the awesome privilege and responsibility of participating in a profound drama … with God as the author.
Featured resource:
