When I first began preaching over 45 years ago, I began performing weddings for various couples in my community. I would meet with the couples, plan the wedding, and usually offer a couple of counseling sessions. I would teach them about handling their anger, working with the in-laws, and generally trying to 'keep the peace' in the home to keep the marriage together. After a few years of this, I began to understand what the couple needed to hear. As they would talk, I could anticipate and address som...
When I first began preaching over 45 years ago, I began performing weddings for various couples in my community. I would meet with the couples, plan the wedding, and usually offer a couple of counseling sessions. I would teach them about handling their anger, working with the in-laws, and generally trying to 'keep the peace' in the home to keep the marriage together. After a few years of this, I began to understand what the couple needed to hear. As they would talk, I could anticipate and address some of the problem areas in their relationship. In many of the couples, there seemed to be a recurring theme – that of lasting commitment. This would come up when we discussed things such as conflict resolution, financial issues, and family differences. I would stress that they love each other, of course, and continually remind themselves of their commitment to each other, and to the marriage itself. When asked about this, I would remind them of something some had never heard. The 'secret' of marriage was that there would be good times and bad, days of love and joy, and days of aggravation and anger.
This seemed to be news to the young couples, as they were usually fresh in love with each other, and could not imagine anything ever coming between them. In fact, I had more than one husband tell me, after going through this part of the counseling, that they would be fine – if they had problems they would talk about their problems, pray together, and everything would be fine. They truly believed it would be that simple to keep their marriage together!
Over the years, though, there were several occasions when I would watch these young couples struggle to keep their marriages together. Some would renew their commitments to each other over and again, and they would build their homes and raise their families. Others, though, would give up on their commitments, giving in to the disappointments and hurts common in marriage life, and ending their marriages in divorce. I make no judgments on these, of course – marriage can be a real challenge! As I said earlier, a marriage will only survive when there is love and commitment to each other and a willingness to dedicate themselves to the relationship.
In some ways, this is a parallel to the way one lives out their faith in Jesus. The Old Testament is a story of 3 men with well-known names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These were men of sincere faith, living in a land dominated by a pagan King. He was religious and had strong views of power and authority over the lives of his subjects. During his reign, he decreed that at the sign of the music played from the temple, everyone must immediately fall to the ground, and worship the golden image the king had established. These three men refused; when the horns blew, they ignored the king's decree. When the king heard of this, he was furious! He called the three law-breakers in before him and gave them another chance. If they bow to the golden image the king had established, they would live, but if they did not, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace.
Here is what the men said to the king: "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer. If it is so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace. . . But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." Daniel 3:17-18
The king had them stoke the fire in the furnace, and they were thrown into the flames! The king later looked into the furnace and saw the three men and another man he called "one like a son of god." (Some say this was Jesus!) He had the men come out and questioned them. Because of their commitment to their all-powerful god, he released and blessed them, and they lived out their lives in the kingdom, protected from ridicule and attack.
The unmistakable message here is clear: practicing your faith in God with commitment and obedience can often be very difficult and get you in trouble with all the wrong people! Our God, though, will always be with us, and no matter what happens, He will bless and carry us into the future.
Let me encourage you to follow Jesus, with commitment to his cause, and practice obedience to his Word. Let God work! Do not be afraid, and never back down from your faith. God is in control!
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