About 12 years ago I found myself single after 18 years of marriage and at first I thought it might be a wonderful new start or beginning in taking an adventurous journey to discover a prospective spouse not realizing that this quest would be a painstaking process of struggling with a singles group, online dating, and matchmaking, which never seemed to be what God had in store for me in the first place which ended up taking me to the other side of the world three years later to find a wife. During the course of this journey I had several opportunities to pursue marriage but it was a matter of waiting for God’s best choice that in the end was the only thing that really mattered.
I was thinking that this whole concept of marriage has something to do with God as we have been perfectly matched to our Creator, even though many will settle for other partner(s) they call god, not realizing that the original arrangement would have been the best instead of compromising for a counterfeit. Sometimes we may think that what we already have is matchless, but comparatively speaking, this is something we may never know if we shun the opportunity to become intimately involved with the other person. Furthermore, you may have a false impression, which you’ve presumptuously assumed, causing you to resist in joining yourself to this someone else, which could be a missed opportunity on the basis of a simple misunderstanding.
Anyway, when looking for our significant other we often search for something that attracts us, even if it’s superficial. Sometimes this can be a distraction to what we are really in for, leading to, I don’t after we say I do. Religion may be desirous for all the wrong reasons such as for social, political, economic, and cultural advantages as seeming to promise and promote all the benefits of a good and secure relationship, but in essence, it could really be a bad and abusive marriage. Bottom line, if we can concede in a personal God as the Creator and honestly determine that God isn’t all things to all people (pluralism), by understanding comparative religions, then it becomes reasonable that we were designed for this one God who will best suit our purpose and needs. Anything else is just a plain betrayal as decking oneself with earrings and jewelry to follow ones lovers while forgetting our (eternal) life partner, Hosea 2:13.
So whether you take the position of spiritual abstinence (Atheism), loving oneself (Hedonism), polyamorous devotion to many lovers (Hinduism), or a monogamous relationship, you may end up finding yourself lonely, promiscuous, or tied down to someone, whether for better or worse, as feeling a sense of duty as to not separate and divorce, regardless whether you have any real sense of unity and fulfillment to what is eternally lasting and significant. You may have been promised many things in your wedding vows but there is no reassurance in this relationship as based solely on your acts of service and what’s in it for them instead of simply being justified because of the nature of the relationship as having to prove yourself in servitude as potentially being shamefully cast off as rejected over a lack of performance.
God’s love is unlike any of this, as it is unconditional, in that, we can’t earn or merit it, Ephesians 2:8-9, and He is completely faithful to keep us, John 6:37, as fully justified by a covenantal promise that can’t be broken or dissolved as secured by the gift of the bride price which was fully paid by His very life blood as a commitment to serve, and not, just being served, Romans 3:23-26, Mark 10:45. What kind of marriage would offer this kind of dedication and commitment towards ensuring your future without worrying if you are going to become simply displeasing and rejected in the end?
Finally, for some, marriage loses its appeal after the honeymoon stage in being challenged with the indifferences of imperfection as perhaps depriving you of that sense of joy and love that initially attracted you in the first place but now seems unattainable. Yet the superlative hope is that it can be gained as eternally lasting with a perfect union of which our souls really long for in connecting us to the One of which no one else can compare. The bible corresponds those who are in relationship with God as the bride of Christ, who have been sealed(secured), as with a ring, Ephesians 1:13-14, as the evidence of His love and commitment who has given Himself up for her, and I would ask you if you would be willing to stand at the altar to take a vow, as to love, cherish, and obey in faithful commitment, regardless of others objections, in taking Him as your Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward as being joined to Him, as to never be put asunder, Ephesians 5:25-33.
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