Nothing Without YOU

 26 years I've been married to the perfect one God picked out for me.

She is much younger than me so she has been with me more years than she was without me.

I suck at accepting help. I was single for 38 years and content to be single 4 ever.

I suck at loving people who need compassion and the unconditional love of God, the lovingkindness of God, the chesed (Hebrew word for lovingkindness) of the God of Israel.

Had I gone that route, I would have been a self-centered, self righteous, know it all.  All the work that needed done on my stony heart outside of the temple, all the work that needed done to shave it and trim it and make it humbly fit into the place selected by the sovereign God would not have been done. 

My old saying is, "The best way to stay married is to stay married."  This does not apply to abusive situations, or even addictions situations and the Bible says it does not apply to adultery, although, if you extend mercy in that situation GREAT HEALING can and does occur.

But if you run from a marriage that is stretching you, you will not be stretched, growth will be stunted and bitterness could take root. BEWARE.

But if you stay and pray, and humbly take your place in the union God ordained and gives grace and mercy to continue. You will grow and grow and grow, so much so that the Master Gardener will need to prune you to keep the growth healthy and productive. If I did not trim the bushes in front of our house we literally could not get out of our house!

Marriage is a picture of the Messiah and Messiah's community, "church" is a bit of a sucky word. (Mark Klafter taught me that and I am forever grateful.)

Marriage is a mystery.

Mystery as used in the Bible just isn't what we think it is.

Sadly, I don't fully know or understand what the word meaning is in its entirety.

Doesn't it seem like it is something we are being asked by God to seek Him about, to spend time with Him not seeking answers or a teaching, or a system (especially a system, right T. Justin Comer?). We are just seeking Him, walking with HIM in the garden in the cool of the day, and one day our hearts desire to understand what "mystery" means becomes clear.

My friend Dane who helped me a lot today. made it clear that when we pray it flows from a place of acknowledging who HE is, sovereign King of the universe, the God who delights in mercy, because Mercy is how He gets us back on track. Praise Him, worship Him and then let prayer flow from that place of rest and trust.

At Rest, In Him.