A mother and daughter shared a laugh when the daughter revealed her clapping habit while cooking. It turned out she was imitating her mom, who clapped to remove excess salt. The daughter hadn’t known the reason behind her mom’s action. Thank God her mum later explained to her; she would have had a tasteless marriage.
Friend, God has not ordained marriage to be difficult (Proverbs 31:12). It is our ignorance or arrogance that often makes it so. Every marriage should be an Eden; a place of beauty and abundance. If you enter marriage with the mindset of struggle and difficulty, you may not experience the bliss and blessings ordained for it (Genesis 2:8-15).
Marriage becomes easy when we follow God’s template for it (Matthew 19:1-8, Ephesians 5:21-33). There is the general template as seen in scriptures, and there’s the marriage-specific template. Failure to run your marriage by divine template is an open invitation to frustration. Discover the particular template that God wants you to run your marriage with (Exodus 25:40).
No two marriages are the same since no two individuals or couples have the same destiny. Comparing your marriage with another is a recipe for frustration (2 Corinthians 10:12). Singles, you need to get God’s template for your marriage before you get married. For the married, don’t forget what God told or showed you before you got married. Run with it (Habakkuk 2:1-4).
People have difficulties in marriage when they don’t understand or follow times and seasons (1 Chronicles 12:32). Discerning times and seasons helps us to know what to do per time without getting distracted by another man’s season. It helps you to enjoy where you are on the road to where you are going (Philippians 4:11-13).
If you want your marriage to be easy, look for a great marriage and learn (Isaiah 51:1-2). God will always give you a model, but it is your responsibility to learn. Like the lady in our opening story, if you don’t learn now, you would pay dearly for it in the future (1 Timothy 4:13-16). Stop trying to teach others about marriage when you should be learning yourself.
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria