More On Marriage As Sanctuary

I love my readers.

You guys keep me on the up and up. A few of you pointed out my epic fail in not mentioning God in a discussion on sanctuary. Thank you!

(In case you've missed the previous posts talking about sanctuary in marriage, you can find them here:7 Quick Takes (Volume 79)--See #4 and Clarifying Marriage as Sanctuary.)

ONLY GOD can meet all our needs. Our spouses can try, but they're human. And we're not always so lovable, are we? We must seek sanctuary with Him FIRST before we try to find it in our marriages. WE MUST FIND OUR SECURITY IN GOD ALONE.

Amen, sister, you better believe it!

Finding sanctuary in our marriages without God will be tough. Very, very tough. Without the Holy Spirit's guidance and strength, our efforts are merely human. Truly the more we seek God, the more we grow closer to each other.

Have you heard the triangle analogy? God is at the very top and each spouse resides in opposite bottom corners. As each party moves closer to God at the top, they shorten the distance between the two of them as well. Our best chances of finding sanctuary in marriage come when both spouses are working on their relationship with Christ. Even if only one spouse appeals to Almighty God, the chances of finding such rest in our marriages improves significantly. "For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband." (1 Corinthians 7:14) Someone needs to be pursuing God to find real sanctuary.

One of you also pointed out that not all people should marry. You are absolutely right. Though God says in Genesis 2: 18, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him," He also says through Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:1, "It is good for a man not to marry." The decision to marry or not is personal between an individual and God. Though our culture doesn't teach it, we would all do well to consider whether God intends for us to be married BEFORE we look for Mr. Right.

We could talk for hours on this subject, but we'd never come up with easy answers. So I conclude this post with God's Word on finding true sanctuary.

Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Psalm 15

May God bless us with sanctuary as we diligently seek Him.



Photo Credit: gail548