My wife and I love to travel over the mountainous, country roads of East Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Southwest Virginia. What beauty! What adventure! What fun!
Sometimes, we come to the end of road and wonder which direction we should turn. Many times we have lost our GPS signal. There is a bit of hopelessness in feeling lost, needing direction.
To fully understand today’s blog post, I would encourage you to read Taking the Scenic Route #1. As we saw, the scenic route is not the normal route. Its less-travelled and not the overwhelming choice. There we learned, first of all, that God created marriage, not man.
Today, and second of all, God directs marriage, not man.
When you take the scenic route, you better have a good map like in the old days or have faith that your GPS keeps a good signal. Otherwise, you are likely to get lost.
So many marriages today are directionless, struggling, floundering, trying to run on auto-pilot, and so very sadly are on the verge of collapsing altogether. Why? Because too many couples are not getting their directions for marriage from the One Who created marriage. Read carefully the following words: O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps (Jeremiah 10:23).
The Bible, God’s infallible Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17), gives us the truths and principles we need for a God-honoring, role-fulfilling, blessed, satisfying marriage (Genesis 2:18-25; Ephesians 5:18-33; 1 Peter 3:1-7). Therefore, outside of prayer, the greatest thing you can do for your mate is to be a man or woman of the Word!
You see, it takes three to make a good, biblical marriage: God, the man, and the woman. This is beautifully illustrated by “The Triangle.”
The closer each spouse moves to God, the closer they move toward each other. But, the further each moves from God, the further they move from each other.
Direction in marriage is so needed every day for each spouse, as well as each other’s own personal, relational growth in Christ (Ephesians 4:12-16; 2 Peter 3:18).
How does this happen?
- Read & be clean by the Word (Ps. 119:9; John 15:2-6; 1 John 1:9)
- Study the Word (Psalm 119:33-40)
- Personalize the Word (Memorize/Meditate — Make it your own (Psalm 119:73-80)
- Share the Word (Ephesians 4:15)
There are so many ways to take in the Word of God through Bible apps (YouVersion), Scripture memory apps (ScriptureTyper), and podcasts (Love Worth Finding, Adrian Rodgers). Be sure to journal what God is saying to you each day. Then, gather up your journal and your Bible and have a special time with your spouse sharing what the God of your salvation has said to you (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
Broken, directionless marriages always involve at least one partner moving away from God, abandoning prayer and the searching of God’s Word.
Consider the following:
- Before you take the scenic route, you want to find out where you are going. I like to look at the map and I have an idea of where the road goes. The Word of God gives you a picture in your mind the roads and lay of the land in marriage. The Word of God always keeps you on the right road
- Sometimes on the scenic route, you let your intuition (hunch) take over. As you learn the Word and grow in the Word, you will come to rely more and more on the Word in your marriage. In essence, your spiritual instinct takes over.
- On the scenic route, if you get lost, you stop and ask for directions. Men usually hate to ask for directions, but in reality, men, you should be the one who is always stopping to pray (ask for directions) and point your wife toward God.
You see, just as the scenic route is not the normal route, a marriage directed by God who created matrimony is not the norm against the backdrop of this world.
Surrender to God today. Search His Word. Trust and live out His Word. Enjoy the journey.
Your most important turn in marriage is the next one! —- Will it be toward God?
From A Pastor's Heart 