When I die, my wife could put several statements on my tombstone, and one of them could be, “Wonder where that road goes?” I love taking the scenic route.
Recently, my wife and I got away for a two-night retreat in the Allegany Mountains of Virginia. The morning of our departure, I said to my wife, “I’m going to go north and over the mountain.” In doing so, we saw lovely horse farms, beautiful mansions, majestic mountains, quiet meadows, and long-distance vistas.
I love taking the scenic route.
The opposite of the scenic route in most cases is the interstate highway system in our country. Sadly, there are too many parallels to marriages today in America
- Its life in the fast lane . . . and somebody behind you blinking their lights at you wanting you go faster.
- It’s the quick route . . . like fast-food; no waiting in line – we want everything now.
- It’s the slow route . . . stalled traffic, construction – creates tension, anxiety, anger and impatience.
- It’s monotonous . . . miles and miles of no excitement – looks like many marriages that are dull and boring, just existing.
- It provides many exits for you to get off – sadly, so many are looking at exiting their marriage.
- There all kinds of signs calling for your attention (South of the Border; McDonald’s; Adult bookstores; The World’s Greatest Coffee) – oh the distractions in marriage!
Do you remember the day you were married? Do you remember the excitement you felt together as you began your life-long journey?
How’s the trip going so far? Have you met with a few bumps and turns in the road? Has the scenery become monotonous? Do you disagree over which road to take? Or, is your journey still the same exciting adventure as when it began?
Now, when I describe marriage as the scenic route, I am not saying that it is all smooth travelling. But I do want you consider as an analogy what the scenic route looks like in marriage.
First of all, the scenic route is not the normal route. Its less-travelled and not the overwhelming choice.
Just like there’s a major difference between the scenic route and the interstate highway, biblical marriages should be radically different than the world’s idea of marriage.
You see, God created marriage, not man.
If my car breaks down, I am not going to take it to a dentist. He may have drills and various other tools, but unless he’s a good sideline mechanic, he is not working on my car. Therefore, to understand marriage, to know how marriage should work, to have wisdom to respond correctly in marriage, I must go to the Creator of marriage.
Genesis 1:1 says, In the beginning, God created . . . . Jehovah Elohim is the creator, the producer, the fashioner, the sustainer of all things, including marriage. He is introduced in this passage as the One Who existed before anything in our universe.
Genesis 2:18-23 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam 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.
God created marriage, not man and with that, please consider the following concerning Jehovah Elohim:
- Since God existed before anything in our universe, Who can speak to marriage any better than the One Who was here before marriage?
- Since the name Jehovah Elohim is a plural form speaking of His awesome sovereign power, potential and possibilities, what awesome things could happen in your marriage if you brought it all under God’s sovereign power?
- Since God transformed that which is formless and empty into a beautiful creation, Jehovah Elohim can transform your marriage from a formless, no purpose or goal, empty, lifeless work into a beautiful creation.
Begin with God for every area of marriage. He created marriage, not man.
Take the scenic route, it’s not the normal route.
(More on this subject in my next blog post.)
From A Pastor's Heart 