Hang In There!
In many ways, it seems that marriage should be one of the most natural things in the world. After all, it is one of oldest things on earth, dating back to the second chapter of Genesis.
The Lord God fashioned into a woman
the rib which He had taken from the man,
and brought her to the man.
The man 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.”
For this reason
a man shall leave his father and his mother,
and be joined to his wife;
and they shall become one flesh.
Genesis 2:22-24
However, marriage takes work and more work and then some more work, forgiveness and more forgiveness. After 47 years, I want to assure you that the work and forgiveness and patience and all those other hard things are worth it.
Ray and I were blessed to join friends in the Smoky Mountains again last week. We were happy to visit another of the area’s historic mills. This one is in Cades Cove.
We spent a peaceful and relaxing couple of days and then came back to our busy lives. I smiled when our friend showed me a picture she had taken of Ray and me without our knowing it.
Ray had a saying when our children were growing up. When he was about to drive around a sharp curve, he’d say, “Hold on to what you’ve got.” Ray and I are inadvertently illustrating that saying in that photo: Hold on to what you’ve got!
Trust me. It’s worth it. It isn’t always pretty every day, but when you get to 47 years like we have, marriage is very sweet. Trust me. It’s worth it.
I humbly realize that it takes two and that one spouse cannot hold a marriage together by himself or herself. I am humbly grateful that our marriage has had two people willing to work and forgive and be patient. I know that I am profoundly blessed.
This verse is a great comfort in a situation when only one spouse is working at a marriage:
If possible, so far as it depends on you,
be at peace with all men.
Romans 12:18
Please, as far as it depends on you, hang in there. Again, trust me. It’s worth it.
As Jesus said:
“Have you not read that
He who created them from the beginning
made them male and female, and said,
‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh’?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Matthew 19:4b-6