Reason #956
The longer I am married, the deeper my knowledge and appreciation grows for the Lord. Marriage was designed by God, created as a good thing. It gives us insight into what the relationship between Christ and the church looks like, or at least it should. And it's one of those things you don't completely fathom until you've actually experienced it. That's one of the difficult things about marriage. We all go into it fully believing we are experts only to find all of our ideas and preconceived notions blown apart after a short amount of time.
I love when people refer to the honeymoon stage as the first year of marriage. If you ask me, the honeymoon stage exists between getting engaged and returning from your honeymoon. After that, real life hits and all of the sudden you are no longer your own. Every aspect of your entire life has gone from total privacy to being shared. Now, you share a bed, a bank account, a pantry, a bathroom, daily responsibilities, your body, struggles, history, baggage, emotions, feelings, and space. Nothing solely belongs to you anymore. What yours is mine, and what's mine is ours. And even if you've considered yourself good at sharing, this is a whole new level of sharing. This is more than sharing with your siblings or friends. This is more than being kind and going halves-ies. This is the type of sharing you could never fully prepare yourself for. The type of sharing that even the most share-ful people struggle with. This is sharing in a way that is completely counter intuitive to human nature. A sharing that requires much of you, and sometimes it's not so easy to give.
It's through earthly marriage that I see my human imperfections. Because the truth is, it's easy to be in relationship with a perfect person. It's also easy to believe that you are the perfect person. And so when it come to my relationship with the Lord, I find it refreshing and rejuvenating. That's how it should be. The Lord is so good to me. He reads my mind, He responds to me in the exact way I need it, He speaks my language, He loves me in the ways that my heart desires, and He never lets me down. He's absolutely perfect, and it's easy. But I'm needy. I'm the one constantly asking and constantly receiving. I am the imperfect one who is requiring so much time, affection, and attention, and because He designed me, because He is so perfect, He knows exactly how to deal with me. He knows how to correct me in a way that I accept and understand. He knows how to talk to me in a way that isn't going to leave me feeling frustrated, hurt, or ashamed. He knows how to meet my needs perfectly, and He knows exactly when to do it. He doesn't retaliate when I act unreasonable, and He is so patient with me, never making me feel rushed or forced into anything. He never reacts harshly or ignores me. He is always available to talk and gives me His absolute attention when we spend time together. He never gets agitated with me or makes me feel second place. He is there to pick me up when I fall and He wipes away the mess I've made rather than belittling me for doing so. He takes the lead, He always initiates, and He has a way of making everything better. It's easy to love Him. It's easy to follow Him and be in relationship with Him. But sometimes I wonder if He would say the same thing about me.
Because when I stop and think about my relationship with the Lord, I realize that I don't always replicate what He has done for me. In my imperfection, I lose my patience. I get tired and irritable. I become caught up in my own emotions and desires that all I can think about is how I feel and what I want. I let stubbornness get the best of me, and I react in ways that don't reflect Him. My priorities get messed up, my words become few, and my intentions aren't pure. Because it's not easy. It's difficult to be imperfect and flawed and in constant need of grace. It's hard to share when you're prone to being independent, and it's hard to give of yourself when selfishness is part of your nature.
And so we try. We keep pressing on knowing full well that we'll never be perfect but attempting to better. Attempting to become more like Christ as we realize how far from the mark we are. Attempting to extend the same patience, love, grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and mercy that has been shown to us rather than only receiving it. And we thank Him for the fact that He does unto us as we often times do not to unto others. That He truly is the perfect one, and that although He is perfect for us, He doesn't require perfection from us. He just requires obedience, faithfulness, and commitment. Everything else can be worked on as we continue in our relationship. We'll never get it down all the way, but He isn't going to give up on us. He sees our progress, and sure, we have our setbacks, but He keeps moving us forward. Reminding us that we absolutely can't accomplish this on our own, so He's there to help. There to guide and direct and lead us in the right direction. There to encourage us, strengthen us, and give us the endurance we need to run the race that has been set before us. Because one day, we'll be there. One day, we won't deal with impatience. One day, we won't struggle with selfishness. One day, we'll be able to do everything we know we should be doing now, and I certainly look forward to that day.
#956 - Because His perfection makes up for my imperfection.
"He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." - Deuteronomy 32:4
I love when people refer to the honeymoon stage as the first year of marriage. If you ask me, the honeymoon stage exists between getting engaged and returning from your honeymoon. After that, real life hits and all of the sudden you are no longer your own. Every aspect of your entire life has gone from total privacy to being shared. Now, you share a bed, a bank account, a pantry, a bathroom, daily responsibilities, your body, struggles, history, baggage, emotions, feelings, and space. Nothing solely belongs to you anymore. What yours is mine, and what's mine is ours. And even if you've considered yourself good at sharing, this is a whole new level of sharing. This is more than sharing with your siblings or friends. This is more than being kind and going halves-ies. This is the type of sharing you could never fully prepare yourself for. The type of sharing that even the most share-ful people struggle with. This is sharing in a way that is completely counter intuitive to human nature. A sharing that requires much of you, and sometimes it's not so easy to give.
It's through earthly marriage that I see my human imperfections. Because the truth is, it's easy to be in relationship with a perfect person. It's also easy to believe that you are the perfect person. And so when it come to my relationship with the Lord, I find it refreshing and rejuvenating. That's how it should be. The Lord is so good to me. He reads my mind, He responds to me in the exact way I need it, He speaks my language, He loves me in the ways that my heart desires, and He never lets me down. He's absolutely perfect, and it's easy. But I'm needy. I'm the one constantly asking and constantly receiving. I am the imperfect one who is requiring so much time, affection, and attention, and because He designed me, because He is so perfect, He knows exactly how to deal with me. He knows how to correct me in a way that I accept and understand. He knows how to talk to me in a way that isn't going to leave me feeling frustrated, hurt, or ashamed. He knows how to meet my needs perfectly, and He knows exactly when to do it. He doesn't retaliate when I act unreasonable, and He is so patient with me, never making me feel rushed or forced into anything. He never reacts harshly or ignores me. He is always available to talk and gives me His absolute attention when we spend time together. He never gets agitated with me or makes me feel second place. He is there to pick me up when I fall and He wipes away the mess I've made rather than belittling me for doing so. He takes the lead, He always initiates, and He has a way of making everything better. It's easy to love Him. It's easy to follow Him and be in relationship with Him. But sometimes I wonder if He would say the same thing about me.
Because when I stop and think about my relationship with the Lord, I realize that I don't always replicate what He has done for me. In my imperfection, I lose my patience. I get tired and irritable. I become caught up in my own emotions and desires that all I can think about is how I feel and what I want. I let stubbornness get the best of me, and I react in ways that don't reflect Him. My priorities get messed up, my words become few, and my intentions aren't pure. Because it's not easy. It's difficult to be imperfect and flawed and in constant need of grace. It's hard to share when you're prone to being independent, and it's hard to give of yourself when selfishness is part of your nature.
And so we try. We keep pressing on knowing full well that we'll never be perfect but attempting to better. Attempting to become more like Christ as we realize how far from the mark we are. Attempting to extend the same patience, love, grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and mercy that has been shown to us rather than only receiving it. And we thank Him for the fact that He does unto us as we often times do not to unto others. That He truly is the perfect one, and that although He is perfect for us, He doesn't require perfection from us. He just requires obedience, faithfulness, and commitment. Everything else can be worked on as we continue in our relationship. We'll never get it down all the way, but He isn't going to give up on us. He sees our progress, and sure, we have our setbacks, but He keeps moving us forward. Reminding us that we absolutely can't accomplish this on our own, so He's there to help. There to guide and direct and lead us in the right direction. There to encourage us, strengthen us, and give us the endurance we need to run the race that has been set before us. Because one day, we'll be there. One day, we won't deal with impatience. One day, we won't struggle with selfishness. One day, we'll be able to do everything we know we should be doing now, and I certainly look forward to that day.
#956 - Because His perfection makes up for my imperfection.
"He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." - Deuteronomy 32:4
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