A safe harbor

     Do you know what the first thing the Bible says was NOT good? It was man’s loneliness (Genesis 2:18).  God created Adam and made him very special, sharing a relationship with God unlike anything else in all of creation. Yet Adam’s uniqueness was also his problem. God walked with him in the garden, but one was the creation and the Other the Creator. There was no one else like Adam for him to relate to. God saw Adam’s loneliness. Adam’s loneliness was no oversight on God’s part.  In fact, it was part of God’s plan to make a suitable companion for Adam so that Adam could fully experience the community of one flesh; a human reflection of the Divine relationship.

     God created us to be relational, social, interactive beings. He never intended for us to live life alone. We all need someone we can share our burdens with, someone who we can be ourselves around with no pretenses, someone who will encourage and lift us up, but who will also help us be accountable to God. We need someone who will act as a “safe harbor” for us amid the storms of life.

     In marriage, our mate is to be our safe harbor. By being there for each other and being physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually, and most of all spiritually “naked and not ashamed” before each other, a husband and wife are able to share dreams and expectations, hopes and fears, to communicate and grow ever closer together.  Too many voices in our culture scream out at husbands and wives, telling them to be self-reliant, to trust no one, and to go at it alone.  But that’s just not the way God made us, and that’s not God’s intent for marriage.

     Let your spouse be that safe harbor you need to deal with life’s stresses (and hopefully he/she already is).  Look to your mate when you need help, and make yourself available to your mate when he/she needs you.  Sometimes life is pleasant.  Sometimes life is difficult.  But when you walk the road with a loving marriage-covenant partner, you can double your joys and half your sorrows just by virtue of having a safe harbor.  What are you doing to be a safe harbor for your mate?

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What does God want from my marriage?

  A Weekend Marriage Enrichment Retreat

Friday-Sunday, September 13-15, 2013

Fall Creek Falls State Park Inn

Limited to 25 couples

Email dfcamp@gmail.com for more info

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Is your church doing everything it can to help facilitate healthy marriages?  Are you sure?  The Marriage-Friendly Church is available now and gives you the questions every church needs to be asking.  Available at 21st Century Christian or on Amazon.com

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If you are in the Rutherford/ Davidson/ Wilson County, TN area and are looking for a great marriage small group, A Blessed Promise (Marriage Small Groups) will meet every Wednesday night in August, September, and October at 7 p.m. at the Smyrna Church of Christ.  This class will help couples see their marriage as a wonderful and unique participation in the Kingdom of God.  As couples study God’s Word they will see how His love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy are lived and taught within the context of marriage, and how a Christian couple’s marriage can be one of the most powerful witnesses of Christ to those around them.  The class will be made up of several discussion-based small groups with people who are either already married or looking toward marriage. (Childcare for all ages will be provided through the Wednesday night Bible class program.)