Relationship: It's Personal

Issue # 0054

Few things are more personal than marriage. Merging two lives requires a closeness, that leads to a oneness, that is directly in the middle of most people’s business. However, it’s the good kind of personal. It’s the wonderful of knowing that your spouse loves you with flaws and faults. It’s the comfort of knowing that your spouse will be there on good days and bad. It’s the joy of knowing that over a lifetime, your spouse will show up and keep seeking to know you in a personal, close way.

Here are a few possibilities:

·      When you have a grey hair, your spouse will want to see it. They may even find it first!

·      If you have a splinter in your little toe, your spouse will hold the flashlight and wield the tweezers.

·      When Gatorade or ice chips is the only thing, you can keep down, your spouse will make a grocery store run.

·      When you need more toilet paper, your spouse is most likely the one to find the extra roll.

·      That look in your eyes that says, “I’m tired; let’s go home.” -- your spouse can see that look across a crowded room.

·      Your spouse, most often, gets the brunt of your morning breath (or your bad breath). They also hear your snoring.

In Great Marriage, your spouse is up-close and personal.

-and-

In Great Marriage, God is up-close and personal.

In Great Marriage, each person welcomes this relationship with each other and God. Again, it’s the good kind of personal.

How up-close and personal?

Well, here is a picture that speaks a thousand words:

In Great Marriage, God will be there on rainy, gloomy days and ones filled with beautiful weather. He will be there when you’re in a good mood or not. He will show up if you spend 45 minutes in quiet time or read through a daily devotion in under a minute. He will show up with more love, mercy, and grace than you can ask for or imagine. He might have breakfast (he’s done it before), or he might show up with a mighty wind, a hungry worm, or a talking animal (he’s done all this before too). As we study Scripture, we see God unlimited in how, when, and where he shows up. And in all the miraculous and the practical, here’s the treasure: God shows up; he abides; and he seeks a deep, personal relationship with us. He wants to be present in your life including your marriage.

We invite you to let God take a good, long, glorious look at your life. Invite him to be close. You’ll be glad you did.

Reflect on the following:

How is God being up-close and personal in your life?

How is your marriage shaped by the personal relationship you experience with God?

Describe the closeness you experience in marriage. 

Blessings,

Jo

*Fact: I am certainly not comparing God or anyone to a cow. However, this picture of EB, the brahma cow, captures the up-close, personal I am referencing.

*Fun Fact: EB sneezed on me about 5 seconds after I took her picture! God has a great sense of humor. And John thought it was funny too!