"Make way! Make way!" The proclamation would be stated before the arrival of someone of high stature. Even if one were to not know who the important figure was, it was evident that anyone of lower class must clear out of their path. When we enter marriage, we do so filled with hopes and dreams of what that marriage will be like, and there is nothing wrong with wanting the best possible experience for your marriage, but in marriage it would be best if the officiate resounded a loud proclamation to "Make way!" for what you desire for your marriage is lower class to the desires that the Living God has planned for your marriage. As a Christian I am well aware of God's sovereignty and that He could turn the course of my life whichever way He wills, and I was well aware of this before marriage. Before marriage I even learned from God-fearing men and women that we must not expect a marriage that does not have hardship. However, one thing that I often heard before marriage is the beginning of your marriage (at least the first few years) will be bliss, and so I entered my marriage with the expectation of a fairly blissful start with some small arguments here and there. I have now been married a little over a year and a half, and if I would advise anything it would be that anyone who hopes for marriage should not listen to anyone who tells you anything about having wedded bliss in the first few years. In the short time of our marriage my husband was hospitalized for about three months, his mother died, my father died, and I was hospitalized for about a week and a half. Consider that we have had to deal with these things on top of the stress that comes with adjusting to living with each other as a couple. Where is the wedded bliss I was told about in all of this? For me, it has not been a time of wedded bliss. Under these circumstances it would be understandable for many if my marriage had ended, and yet we are here, still married. Why? The one thing that has held our marriage together is looking to the One True and Living God for our marriage. That being said, I would like to discuss the Lord's prayer.
The Lord's Prayer
When all of our trials began I would find myself praying the Lord's prayer everyday, not because I saw it as a mantra to receive what I wanted but because I ran out of my own words, and who is a better example of how to pray than the Lord, Jesus Himself? The Lord's prayer can be found in Matthew 6 and it says:
"Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever. Amen."
As I prayed this prayer I would think of what the words meant, and it all begins with a full acknowledgment of who the prayer is being addressed to. The triune God is not one to be trifled with. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. He rightfully judges all things, and ordains whatsoever comes to pass. How often do we realize who we are talking to when we pray? It is easy to forget as we live in a fallen world, and we often treat Him as though He is distant when He is present everywhere and nothing escapes His sight. That is why it is extremely important to be devoted to His word. Study what the Bible says, and know Him for who truly He is.
The prayer continues with a complete acceptance of God's will which means in any hardship He allows for us we still acknowledge He will be glorified in it. Consider that He, as part of His will, allowed hardship for the children of Israel, and for Job, and the man who was born blind, and all other people who have ever existed. These hardships are for the glory of God and the good of His people.
The prayer goes on to ask God for what we need. When my husband was in the hospital, I wanted him to come home safely of course, but I also prepared for the worst. In acknowledging God's will I fully recognized that God might have had other plans, and so my prayer was for Him to just to take care of us. Fortunately, God did will that my husband come home safely. However, I still fully recognize that God can turn my life in any direction and so I still ask God to just take care of us.
The prayer then goes proceeds to ask the Lord or forgiveness for our wrongdoings. A man should not think more highly than He ought, and when we approach the Lord as sinful as we are we have no merit before Him. When we sin it damages us, it damages others, and it offends the Lord because it breaks His law and is in drastic opposition of who He is. When the prayer states "forgive us our debts" it is an acknowledgement that sin has a price and unfortunately for us the price is death. That is why Jesus being perfect and dying in the place of His people is critical, because in and of ourselves we do not have what it would take to pay the debt of sin. In order for sin to be paid for it would cost the life of someone who had never sinned. Sin is a reality in this world that impacts every aspect of our lives and our married life is no exception. I can think of times where I could have done better as a wife and my husband would admit he feels there are times he could have done better as a husband. We must remain humble. As we continue in our plea of forgiveness we must be mindful to forgive others who have harmed us, because before the Lord we are in the same position as they are in before Him and that is in absolute need of His forgiveness. This line of thinking falls into the next line of the prayer where we ask the Lord not to lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil for in this we recognize further that we do not have control over what may lay ahead but the Lord has ordered our steps and He is the one who can rescue from all our trials.
The prayer is concluded with acknowledging the reason we can turn to Him. "For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever. Amen." All things in the heavens and on earth belong to the Lord. He created all things and if He ever removed His hand we would instantly perish. For we are only alive by His power, and we are made for His glory.
A Greater Joy
With the hardships that have plagued my marriage up to this point it is easy to assume that all of this time has been sullen but I assure you it has not, for in the absence of a flowery bliss I have a greater joy. My joy is in the Lord and I fully embrace that my life is made for His glory. Whether good or bad times the Lord's will is best, and God is perfect and no form of hardship can frustrate what He has planned. My husband and I sojourn on creating many memories full of laughter and love and this is a different kind of bliss than what the world offers. What God has given us is an insurmountable joy built on the foundation of His truth and it walks with us even in the darkest of times.
"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:11-13
God bless,
~Mrs. Sarchet~
