Missing Molly

Well, this week Molly is in Arkansas with her family while I am working a few days before driving down to meet her and spend Memorial Day weekend with her family! I've been revisiting many of these verses that remind me of the blessing she is to my life!

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. - Proverbs 18

Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves.  - 1 Peter 3

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. - 1 Peter 3

As I read these verses, and spend more time as a married man, I notice a little more of God's glorious design for marriage. Marriage is built in to God's design for our existence! God said from the beginning that man was never meant to be alone (Gen 2:18), so God created woman to complete His grand design (and spruce up the place). Without woman, man was incomplete, even in paradise.

Thus, the Lord tied special blessings to marriage, other than sex, that unlock new facets of our identity and calling before the Lord. Marriage isn't only about personal happiness, although a marriage submitted to the leadership of Jesus will result in personal happiness. There are special attributes of our calling and relationship with God that are only unlocked through the experience of marriage. This is the favor of the Lord mentioned in Proverbs 18.

Why else would God make our prayers dependent on such an intricate and intimate relationship? Peter's address in 1 Peter 3 was not just to husbands and wives because the actual Greek words are intended for men and women of marriageable age, whether married or not. Peter is not just giving an address to married couples, he is giving a generation an invitation... He is describing the inter-dependent relationship of marriage and defining who we are called to be. 

Marriage is a glorious design. It reveals the nature of God in a very unique way so much so that Peter says that if men neglect it then our prayers aren't the same! I see this in my own life! I have never felt nearer to the Lord or more encouraged in my calling than in the days since I married Molly. And even now with just a few days apart, I feel the difference she makes in my life. I am so thankful for her!