Together, as one

There is something from my last post that I would like to clarify before continuing on the topic of marriage. My struggling of wanting to do and be something of more significance. In the process of the Lord filing off the rough edges, I realized that what I was doing and who I was being, a wife and a mom, was of great significance. It has been decades since I have thought it was ‘a less than’ role. The voice of the world was saying it was less than, and for a time, not consistently, I was listening. Today, I believe differently….very differently. To all you stay-at-home moms, hang in there. You are pouring into very moldable lives. The lives the Lord has given to you. Gifts given to you by The Father, the giver of all good gifts. A family unit is your greatest sphere of influence; your impact is valuable. Deep within me, I always knew this, especially when I held those newborns. That is what caused us to sacrifice some things in order for me to be at home. Then those days get rough and long. The enemy starts whispering there is more than this. Maybe you start to believe him, like I did from time to time. But God! He kept hemming me in. I am eternally grateful because those long rough days turned into years that were like a vapor in the wind…gone so quickly. Today, I treasure and cherish the memories made with my toddlers, preschoolers, teens and now adults. Their lives are their own and soon we will be empty nesters. Another season of life…a married couple learning to function just the two of us. Actually, the three of us because our marriage is a three strand cord with the Lord our God. But that was our core all along. Without each other, we would have never had these precious gifts from above.

So what about marriage? Where and how does marriage fit into the order of things? My husband, Scott and I base everything in life on The Word of God. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is fundamental in our beliefs. Shortly after we gave our lives to Christ, I recall someone saying that The Bible had all the answers to life’s questions and I chuckled, ‘yeah, right.’ Well, again, in my refining process, I do believe that to be true today. Therefore, my answers to the above questions will be based on The Bible, the inerrant Word of God. Inerrant because God Himself breathed the Word into man to write. It is a love story. The greatest love story of all times. Even a love story with super heroes. Heroes with supernatural powers. Just dig in and find out for yourself.

In my previous post, I mentioned that the Lord laid the word marriage on my heart. As I pressed in, He led me back in The Word (Bible) to the Book of Genesis, specifically chapters 2 & 3. Here is what I gained from my time in the Word with my Lord. Genesis is the first Book of the Bible. Here is where creation is described, where the first marriage was established. I found this very significant. Marriage was created before The Church. Personally, I see that as a very important fact, laying out God’s order. God is a god of order and not chaos. Chaos does not bring peace. God the Son, Jesus Christ is referred to as the Prince of Peace. He is the Person of Peace. Therefore, God’s order is vital to our peace. I believe marriage is the first representation of The Church. In the New Testament, Christ is also referred to as the Bridegroom to The Church. In turn, The Church is often called The Bride. I would like to point out that we should always look to the whole of God’s Word to gain a greater understanding of Him. As for me and my house, our marriage comes before the church.

All of chapter 2 is described as preceding the Fall of man when the enemy came and deceived Eve causing sin to enter the world. Before man was even created, God worked and rested. Having been created in His image, we will then work and rest. Work prior to The Fall was a blessing and not a curse. It was a means to provide and care for that which was given to man. Just another interesting fact to cling to in this do, do, do and go, go, go culture in which we live. In Genesis 2:7, it states “then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” There is no two ways around this, man was created first, before the woman. God named man. Then in verse 18, the Lord God said, “it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help meet.” God went on to create all the living creatures out of the ground, like man was created and gave man the privilege of naming them. However, none of those creatures were found to be a right helper to man. Genesis then reveals this to us in verses 21-25…

“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

The woman was created differently than any other creature, including man. Yet she was named by man, who also named every other creature. She was created from man…from his bone and from his flesh. This makes her special….unique in all of creation. She fit the bill so to speak as ‘an help meet.’ This phrase is used in the King James Version of the Bible. When you look carefully at these words in the Hebrew, the meaning is a divine and suitable helper for man. How do I perceive this role? For me, it is to be my husband’s number one cheerleader, an encourager and prayer warrior. If I am just too busy with life and serving others, as well as myself and my interests and not his or that he takes a back seat, I am not in God’s aligned order. Thus chaos will enter disrupting peace and creating a vicious cycle that I believe will have dire consequences. To some extent, we have experienced this firsthand. This life is not my own. I chose to be married…I said, “yes” and then I said, “I do.” We are one, as Genesis 2:24 states. Again, the three stranded cord. I see it as a multiplication problem…1 X 1 X 1 = 1. Scott times Kim times God is one. A strong one at that; one the enemy cannot destroy.

1 + 1 does not equal 1. It’s simple math.

To be continued…..with my thoughts on Chapter 3 of Genesis