Finding Gods Will For Marriage Series

EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER HPC EDITION

Finding God’s Will For Marriage

Various

INTRODUCTION

llustration: A flight attendant spent a week’s vacation in the Rockies. She was captivated by the mountain peaks, the clear blue skies, and the sweet smelling pines. But she also was charmed by a very eligible bachelor who owned and operated a cattle ranch and lived in a log cabin. At the end of this week, Mr. Wonderful proposed. But it had all happened so quickly that the woman decided to return home and to her job, feeling that she would somehow be guided to make the right decision. The next day, in flight, she found herself wondering what to do. To perk up, she stopped in the rest room and splashed some cool water on her face. There was some turbulence and a sign in the rest room lit up: PLEASE RETURN TO THE CABIN. She did--to the cabin back in the mountains (Reader’s Digest [1/81], p. 118)

This story does not demonstrate the best way to make decisions in life, but this story does reveal a common dilemma that many people, including Christians, often face. The dilemma I am referring to is the problem of being sure that God is guiding us. In other words, how can you and I be certain that we are in God’s will and that the decisions we are making are the right ones?

You and I face decisions every day. Some of them mundane like what color socks am I going to wear, or will I have salad or fries with that cheeseburger. Other decisions have a more long term, even eternal significance.

The Five Most Important Decisions of Life:

1) Your relationship with God.

2) Vocational choice.

3) Where you go to school.

4) Where you will live.

5) Who you will marry.

Decision #1 is the most important decision by far. It is the one with eternal consequences. The other four decisions may vary in their order depending on the individual and their circumstances.

I believe those five decisions will affect your happiness in life more than any other decisions you will ever make. Today, I want to talk to you about choosing a life partner.

Some of you may think, well that doesn’t apply to me? I am married or I am single and have no intention of ever getting married. That’s all fine.

I would hope that whether you are a parent or grandparent, that you would take a prayerful role at least in the decisions your children and grand children will be making.

If you are married, God’s will also applies to you as we will discover in two weeks, when I share Becoming God’s will in marriage.

There are three decisions which I am so grateful I made in life. They are

1) Saying yes to Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.

2) Saying yes to God’s call into the ministry.

3) Saying yes to Sue when she asked me to marry her.

Those three yeses have changed my life forever!

First, I want to say that when seeking Gods will in marriage that, YES IT IS GOD’S WILL THAT YOU MARRY.

The question that young couples are asking today is not should we get married, rather is it time to live together. The world gives some seeming logical reasons for a couple to live together before getting married;

Reason#1 – It’s financially responsible. In Havelock or Peterborough an apartment can run you somewhere between $700 and $1400 per month plus utilities. Dropping an extra $1000/month seems like throwing your money down the drain. If you’re a particularly “committed co-habitor” you might even be building up equity in a home you’ve bought together. Saving for retirement, paying off student loans, or who knows, maybe even giving it to charity all sound like considerably more responsible things to do with your money than pay double rent (not to mention utilities).

Reason #2 – You spend all your time together anyways. Like wasting money with rent, wasting time is equally frustrating. You drive to each other’s places many times during the week. You help each other with cooking and cleaning and laundry and bills.

Traveling back and forth, virtually living in two places, is kind of like the inconvenience of living out of a bag on a business trip. It’s annoying. If you want to be together, why all the running around?

Reason #3 – It seems like a good next step in the relationship. Consumers that we are in North America, everything exists with a try it before you buy it clause. Every infomercial promises that you can try it and return it in 30 days for a full refund. And the bigger the purchase, the more you want to make sure it’s just right. What kind of fool would buy a car before thorough inspection and testing? Thankfully, marriage in our society today does, to a degree, maintain some semblance of “a big deal”. Couples don’t want to rush into that.