Heirs Together in the Grace of Life

What is our purpose in marriage?

What does God desire to do in and through us?

Two becoming as one…..togetherness…..

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Hebrews 11 presents Sarah and Abraham as examples of faith. In 1 Peter 3, she is honored as being the woman who called her husband lord.

Abraham spent much of his life traveling around looking for a city whose builder and maker was God. He never found that city, and there were many trials and hardships along the way. How would you like that type of life? Would you have stood by your husband as a man of God in the face of such lack of evidence?

Genesis 12:11-13

“And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon; Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife” and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.”

What a terrible burden to put on a woman. Make her feel that she had to lie in order to save her husband’s life. She must have also known that she would be in a danger of being taken by another man. 

Sarah was taken to special quarter reserved for “brides in waiting.” What a state of mind Sarah must have been in!  Her husband was supposed to love, cherish, and protect her. Where was he now? Abraham was out getting gifts in return for his life wife. But Sarah obeyed.

Do you let God be God in your life? There will be times when your husband is dead wrong, as was Abraham, and you will need to obey your husband and commit your way unto God.

Do you grieve over the situations your husband puts you in? Tell me, how would you react if he pulled this one? Would you refuse to obey? Take authority into your own, “more spiritual” hands?

I am thrilled when I see God delivering a woman from her husband’s folly…..

Abraham was just…..a man.

All men make mistakes. A woman’s place is simply to obey for God’s sake, not for right’s sake. If you wait until you feel that your husband is right before you obey him, then you will seldom obey him, and you will never enjoy the miracles of God.

While Abraham was learning to obey God, Sarah was learning to obey her husband, and God was busy doing miracles for both of them. God chose Sarah as surely as he chose Abraham. It took an obedient woman to become the mother of a great nation. 

Who and what would my husband be if he had married another woman? Have I made it possible for him to be a strong, confident, aggressive man of God?

Have I allowed God to direct his life and work? Have I appreciated his calling and interests? Have I been a help meet for my man? Is he a better, stronger, more capable man for having had me as his wife? If God were creating the perfect lady for him, would it have been me?

A wise woman seeks to be part of her husband’s life. His interests become her interests. She looks for ways to help him in all his endeavors. When he needs a helping hand, it is her hand that is there first.

1 Peter 3:7

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”

In our modern culture, we women push to accomplish so much outside the home. Most of these things are not of God. They are just pursuits of vanity to crowd our minds and cloud our spirits and cause us to forget that we were created for the man to whom we are married. We need to lay aside activities outside the home that push us and the kids to the edge of exhaustion and confusion. Homeschooling is not the problem. It is the ambitious goals you set. God’s will for all married couples is that they walk life’s path hand in hand. Many husbands and wives are running circles around each other, seldom meeting in the middle, We are so busy driving the kids to this class or that event that we lose sight of being heirs together. Even church activities rob us from God’s plans for us as a couple. 

….focus on putting your time into what your husband is doing and what your children need. That is how you can better meet his needs, and it is the beginning of learning to be an heir together with him of the grace of life. 

Many couples live their whole lives together and never really bond. They are just two people sharing the same house and dividing up responsibilities. They live together, never fuss or fight, raise their children, yet never function as a team. He does his thing, and she does hers. She doesn’t really know his business or care. He is bored with her “many” daily activities. There is little in their lives that couldn’t be done just as well apart. When he drives to the store, it never occurs to him to have her ride along. When she goes out for a few minutes, it feels as though it would be a nuisance to tell him where she is going and when she will be back. They are married, sleeping together, raising children, sharing duties and chores, but they are two separate people going about life. The wife gets busy with her children and church and bonds with her best friend at church. She share more emotionally with another woman than she does with her own husband. Women bonding with other women? Instead of the perfect picture of Christ and the Church, today we have a perverted expression of woman satisfying woman. 

Your husband needs you to be his help meet, his lover, his best friend. You need to lay down your own agenda and become his Queen. 

Bonding, and becoming heirs together, starts with the wife, because she is the weaker vessel and has the greatest need. It is her “visible” need of him that awakens him. If she pours her life into pleasing her husband and serving him, he will develop a protective, nurturing instinct toward her. As he gains confidence that his heart is safe with her and that she places his welfare first, he will begin to trust her with his innermost being. The Proverbs 31 woman was a major success in many areas of her life, but in laying a foundation for her success, the verses tell us that

Proverbs 31:11-12

“The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” 

Without this foundation, a man will never bond. 

When a woman bonds with her man, she gains his strength and stability. As a couple, they can accomplish more than they would ever accomplish standing alone. He gives her emotional strength to deal with the issues of life. When he can trust her judgments, it will help him become wiser and more in tune with the needs of others. 

The wife does not need to be cute, hardworking, or smart, but if she honors and loves her man, she will have his strength helping her become more than what she would have ever been without him. He only needs his woman to pour her life into his, for him to pour his soul back into hers. 

It is so easy to spend your life lamenting, “Oh, if only my husband were saved or more spiritual or not so angry.” No matter who or what your husband is, your job it to be his help meet. When you approach him with light in your eyes, that light will reflect back to you. 

Becoming heirs together of the grace of life is God’s highest plan for husband and wife. It is the great mystery  the patter of Christ and the Church. The inheritance is great passion, stability, wisdom, joy, love, and balance. God’s blessings are so much greater than any tongue or writer can ever tell.

God is the master at making heavenly marriages.