I'm reading a book for a bible study at church called The Politically Incorrect Wife. It's encouraging me to realize my true "job description" as a wife and trying to help wives fix marriages fraught with selfishness.
I think it's fairly safe to say that God looks at our relationship with him much like a marriage. In his word he refers to his people as his bride, his beloved, and his adulterous wife. I have often looked at my relationship with him and wondered if it looked enough like a marriage to please him. I sure love him a lot- I ought to be pretty safe, right?
But something Oswald said the other day caused me to look at it from another angle; "Am I kind to God or am I only expecting him to be kind to me?"
Kind to God?!? What on earth does that look like? Only expecting him to be kind to me?!? Yikes! This is sounding a little too much like an earthly marriage- the kind of earthly marriage that someone needs to write a book about how to fix!
I must admit that my own marriage as well as my relationship with God have been plagued with self-centeredness. I have frequently put him last because I know he's faithful, loving, forgiving, loves me, and will "understand". I've frequently expected him to automatically understand everything about me simply because of who he is and then to act accordingly (without me ever uttering a word!) I've expected him to give and give and give because he wants to (because he loves me) and honestly expect just my left-overs in return. He's to supply all my physical and emotional needs because I understand that it's him that completes me.
Which him am I referring to? It doesn't much matter- I seem to treat them the same! How broken hearted I am to see that my earthly marriage and my relationship to God are way too similar in their shortcomings and not similar enough in their virtues! Paul reminds me that if I act on this sorrow, it will lead to repentance which leads to salvation with no regrets (2 Corinthians 7:10).
I am in a season of life in which I have taken a fresh concern for my marriage. I am beginning to understand (and attempt to correct)the ill effects of years and years of self-centered behavior. Could it be that as God reveals to me the failings in my marriage relationship, He has really been trying to get me to see the failings in my relationship with Him? I believe that He has shown me this parallel to draw me back to him in a fresh, exciting way. In a way that makes my heart skip a beat, that thrills me, that makes me think only of Him and of ways I might please Him. It is good to belong to Him.
I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert...Come back, wandering children!...I, yes, I am your true husband. I'll pick you out one by one...and bring you to Zion!
Jeremiah 2:2 & 3:14
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I appreciate your desire to help others. That is a very selfless thing to do, for when you get involved in others' marriages it is draining, time-consuming and requires much, much giving. It also involves a huge sacrifice and will cost you. But when God calls you to certain things, you go there, regardless of the cost. That is how I understand the community of Christ needs to function with each other. Most of us, especially in this area, shy away because we have all been cautioned by our leadership to be very careful, to the point where it is just too scary to go there. And there are very good reasons for these warnings, but then we all tend to fly at full speed way away from real life stuff that people are going through. Prayers for you and those you come into contact with. Be courageous, be a listener, be wise. May His spirit be on you in a mighty way. He WILL heap many blessings on you as you obey Him.
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