By: Sofia Di
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| [©Sofia Di] |
My first job as a wife is to believe in Jesus Christ and rest in His finished work. In
this way, I can have an assurance that none of my imperfect efforts
to build my house will fail. It is easy to rest when I know that He is
the watchmen and the builder of my house.
The other day I was reading a story
about Abraham. I noticed that even though he was declared righteous,
he was not a perfect man. Abraham didn't do everything right to build
his marriage. The only thing he did right was to believe in the Lord,
which gave him a right standing before God. When we have right
standing before God we are qualified to be blessed.
In Genesis 20, we learn that after Abraham was declared righteous he made a selfish mistake. He lied about his wife to protect his own life. The bible tells us that Abraham said of his beautiful wife, "she is my sister". He was afraid that Abimelech, king of Gerar, would try to kill him because of Sarah's beauty. Abraham was somehow right, King Abimelech liked Sarah and took her for himself.
In Genesis 20, we learn that after Abraham was declared righteous he made a selfish mistake. He lied about his wife to protect his own life. The bible tells us that Abraham said of his beautiful wife, "she is my sister". He was afraid that Abimelech, king of Gerar, would try to kill him because of Sarah's beauty. Abraham was somehow right, King Abimelech liked Sarah and took her for himself.
If we think about this part of the
story, we realized that Abraham jeopardized his marriage in a huge
way! His decision was hurtful for Sarah. She probably believed that
her husband didn't cherish her. She probably felt insecure, unloved,
and disposable. Sarah could have been dishonored, used by a king and
then remain for ever captive in a harem. Perhaps she would have
become the king's wife. Abraham could have lost every chance to bring
her back to him.
The events on the story are showing
us that Abraham was not taking care of his wife or his marriage as he
should have but his mistakes were not bigger than his God! Later on,
we learn that God spoke to this King in dreams and forbid him to
touch Sarah. God protected Abraham's wife and his marriage.
Genesis 20 verse 6-7 God said to
Abimelech in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure,
that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept
you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to
him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If
you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you
and everyone in your family."
How faithful our God is! He was
taking care of Abraham's marriage. This is exactly what happens when
we let God be the builder and watchmen of our marriage. We do not
have to be afraid of something bad happening to it. We just need to
remember that God is the one who protects our husband, his job, life,
character, health, finances, integrity, purity.
Abraham's wife and marriage were saved because God declared him righteous. Today because of what Jesus did at the cross, when we believe, we are declared the righteousness of God. Therefore, We have access to a blessed marriage.
Abraham's wife and marriage were saved because God declared him righteous. Today because of what Jesus did at the cross, when we believe, we are declared the righteousness of God. Therefore, We have access to a blessed marriage.
Like Abraham, there will be times that we will do
everything right to build our house. There will be times we will make
mistakes. Hence the importance to believe in the Lord. Lets remember that not even the best of our efforts are
enough to build our house. Only Jesus' work at the cross is perfect
and sufficient to save, build and restore our marriages.
If you've made mistakes while building your marriage, tell Jesus that you believe He is your
help. Invite him to be the builder or re-builder of your home. His
love will empower you to do what you need to do. His power will
restore everything that has been broken.
