Week Two: Day Seven
The Story
The group was about to head out on a double date. Leslie had talked Anna into going with her and her boyfriend, Daniel, on a double date with Matt. Anna had met Matt briefly during the prayer walk for their sick friend, Foster, but had not thought about him since. Away they went.
The four met at Fifer’s parking lot where Anna worked to carpool to Broadway, a new restaurant that had just opened. The two couples sat down with the guys on the left side of the booth and the girls on the right. Though there was the initial awkwardness of Matt and Anna barely knowing each other, the night progressed quite comfortably.
Anna asked Matt about his family. Matt began to tell her about how his dad was a successful banker and his mom had been a stay-at-home mom throughout his childhood. She had gone back to work as a pharmacy technician after both he and his two sisters graduated high school. He told Anna about how his parents were married, but seemed to live more like roommates from time to time.
Matt reciprocated the question to Anna. She was saddened to say that her parents had divorced when she was thirteen. She had grown much closer to her mother, but had become quite distant from her father. She didn’t discuss any more details, but Matt could see the underlying hurt.
The double date ended after everyone rode back to Anna’s work at Fifer’s. Matt spoke with Anna about going out again sometime and they made plans.
The Devotion
In Stu Weber’s book Tender Warrior, Weber makes the claim that God’s intent is that man and woman should join together to create the family and that each complements the other perfectly. The illustration that he uses is that men are farsighted and women are nearsighted.
His idea is that men tend to have a big picture mentality, yet are less adept at discerning details, while women tend to be strong in understanding details. They complement each other. In no way did Weber intend to belittle either men or women but rather points out that we are a God-designed complement. God created us to be an inseparable team and together we are more effective for his kingdom than apart.
Nothing has so remarkably yet almost silently come under attack in the last ten to fifteen years than the institution of the family. Family was God’s idea and he instituted it in the first pages of his book. Adam and Eve, while fallen, go on to be the father and mother of us all.
The family is supposed to be a safe place for children to find their way. Boys learn ruggedness from their father and how to show gentleness and respect to women through their father’s example. They find tenderness from their mother and learn what to look for in a wife as they grow. Girls learn traits from their mother and father as well. When mom and dad demonstrate a loving relationship, children grow up imitating through their example. The best thing we can do for our children is to be encouraging spouses putting family right behind the pursuit of God on our priority lists.
There is a popular statistic touted that says 50% of marriages end in divorce. I’ve heard that it’s the same in the church. One speaker said that the likelihood of divorce falls statistically to almost zero if a couple will consistently pray together every night. In essence, a couple will stay together through thick and thin and fulfill their marital vows through prayerful humility. To be cheesy; a couple who prays together stays together. Marriage is built upon covenant. A covenant is one that cannot exist apart from God.
I aim not to offend, but rather to make an argument for the family. I believe God wants nothing more than for us to live in strong Christian families. Leadership begins with God down to the father, moves to the mother and then the children. This is how family was designed to work best.
The Bible
Proverbs 23 | Colossians 3 | Matthew 1
The Prayer
“Lord Jesus, I thank You that the family is Your idea. You designed it to be the institution in which You were brought in this world through Mary and Joseph. You even show us your familial line all the way through David, Abraham and Adam. I pray that You would guard the future of my family today. May You help me to take the place within my family that You are calling me to hold. Give me a boldness to live for You. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
