The Sunday Mail
From creation, God demonstrated His interest in and value placed on the marriage institution and family by being practically involved in it.
God put man to sleep and from his side took a rib and formed woman. Not stopping there, God took the woman by the hand and led her to Adam. Therefore marriage is a unique relationship, having its root in divinity. (Genesis 2:22)
However, marriage and family life, a thing of joy, pleasure, and high esteem at creation is now treated by many as a necessary evil and looked at by some disdainfully.
It is said, “Those in it want to rush out and those outside want to rush in”. This has resulted in the fast disintegration of the marriage unit and subsequently the family.
Success in marriage as in any other endeavour in life, answers to working, not dreaming. A wise man once said that some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it. Every achievement in life is worked for. Nothing works itself, just like no problem solves itself.
For instance, a student who wants to fail spends all night praying, instead of doing his assignments and studying. Prayer does not take the place of doing one’s assignment; it only complements it.
Even miracles answer to certain inputs from the benefactor. Your obedience to what is required of you is how you initiate it. Take the miracle of the turning of water into wine. Mary told the men, “Whatever he tells you to do, do it”.
The servants initiated their miracle by obeying Jesus’ instructions to fill the water-pots with water.
Your marriage and family life is meant to bring you tremendous joy. But not all couples are enjoying their marriages. In fact, many are facing constant crisis and terrible difficulties, and God is not unaware of this.
Notice that God’s responsibility is to provide a way of escape for you; but He leaves it to you to locate and follow that way. Your wife cannot be the worst person in the world, neither is your husband the devil you claim he is.
Yours is simply a case of ignorance! The devil’s success in troubling your home is only due to your failure to play your part.
Marriage is meant to be exciting. If yours has lost its excitement, God can impart His joy and goodness into it once again. He can make something special out of your home. (Genesis 2:7)
God made man out of dust, a valueless thing. But as worthless as it is, God made something worthwhile out of it.
We can draw a spiritual parallel from this: no matter how worthless you regard your spouse, something glorious can still come out of him or her. You may think your marriage is valueless, but God can make something outstanding out of it.
Many people get into marriage without understanding that it is a covenant. Instead, they keep wishing that it will become glorious. But because they have not fulfilled their own side of the deal, they never taste the glory in it.
Your spouse is not just a bed-mate or a friend, but is the “wife of thy covenant” (Malachi 2:14). In essence, you are in a covenant relationship with him or her. But this applies only to husband and wife.
As a matter of fact, singles who are in courtship must know that their courtship partner is not a covenant partner. You don’t owe him or her any covenant obligations until you are actually married.
Do not let anyone put pressure on you. As long as you are not yet joined together in marriage, you are not bound by covenant, and so are not in a covenant relationship.
Once married, what a couple had before marriage now jointly belong to them. Don’t allow material things to come between you and your spouse. When God created Eve, He brought her to Adam, and the garden of Eden was given to both of them. So husband and wife, don’t withhold anything from one another.
Never play hide and seek with your spouse, if you don’t want shame. (Genesis 2:25)
To enjoy God’s best in your marriage, you must make Him the centre of your home. You must be ready to give Him priority place, recognising Him as the foundation for a successful marriage.
The problem with many couples is that they push God aside, and yet expect to enjoy divine benefits. They ignore the word of God, which is the “manufacturer’s manual”, and expect the product (marriage) to function perfectly.
But it is impossible! Marital bliss depends on the place you give to God and His word in your home. The more of Him you have, the more of peace, joy, happiness and sweetness you enjoy in your family.
Satan’s mission of stealing, killing and destroying is first targeted at the home. His primary concern is how to steal the joy, peace and love that exists between couples. All his plan is on how to move the man against the woman, so that one of them would eventually move out of their home.
The same way he drove Adam and Eve out of Eden, he still prowls looking for gullible people to drive away from their homes.
However, when God is at the centre of a marriage, you find that instead of getting tired of each other, your excitement and satisfaction increase as the years go by, making the relationship go from good to better and from better to best!
This year, strive to enjoy fulfilment and God’s goodness. One of your resolutions this New Year must be to make your marriage work.
Wishing you a Happy New Year; New dreams, new hopes, new experiences and new joys.
Apostle Langton C Kanyati is the founder of Zoe Life Changing Ministries and Grace Unlimited Ministries. Feedback: [email protected] or WhatsApp 0772 987 844
