Marriage

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The following Sunday Trevor, Miranda, and their parents all went to church together. Pastor Philip Prescott was going through the Book of Matthew, and today he was talking about Matthew 19. He would be talking about marriage and divorce, then Jesus blessing the little children.

During the sermon, Philip said, "You see, God never intended for divorce to take place. The Law of Moses only permitted it because the hardness of people's hearts, as a way for women to get out of a marriage if their husbands were mistreating them. God didn't intend for husbands to physically or verbally abuse their wives or wives to abuse their husbands, and He did not intend for husbands and wives to end their marriages. When He created Adam and Eve, He said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife', and 'The two shall become one flesh'. He did not intend what He had joined together to be separated, and as Ephesians says, He expects husbands to love their wives as He loves the church and wives to submit to and respect their husbands as the heads of them'. Now, in no way does submission diminish the value of a woman. God made the man to be the spiritual leader and head of a household to take care of the spiritual nourishment of his wife and children. The role of a wife is to help her husband, as Eve was Adam's helper. She is to bear children and also guide them spiritually and nourish them. Both husbands and wives have important roles in their families, and the unity between a husband and his wife was meant by God to be a reflection of the unity between God and His bride, the church. That is why He does not want that unity broken. Now, it is hard for husbands to love their wives the way God wants them to and hard for wives to love their husbands as God wants them to, but God can help them make it possible to love each other this way, for with God all things are possible."

Trevor took Miranda's hand and gave it a squeeze, then put his arm around her shoulders. They, Richard, and Janice looked at Bob and Henrietta, who had tears in their eyes. Richard and Janice passed their friends tissues and said a silent prayer for God to comfort their hearts and help their marriage to succeed this time.

Later that night Trevor and Miranda were in bed. Miranda was asleep, but Trevor was restless. He couldn't stop thinking about his parents' reaction to the sermon and hoped they would keep Jesus at the center of their marriage this time. He stared out the window while he absent-mindedly stroked Miranda's hair and rubbed her back. Suddenly he let out a sigh that woke Miranda up.

Miranda turned toward him, her eyes half-open. "What's wrong, honey?" she asked.

Trevor looked at her. "Oh, I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to wake you. I was just thinking."

"About what?" Miranda asked.

"My parents," Trevor said, "and their upcoming remarriage and their reaction to Philip's sermon today. They obviously still feel really remorseful about their divorce, and they intend to make marriage work this time. I hope they will keep Jesus at the center so that divorce doesn't happen again."

"Me, too," Miranda said. Then she sat up. "You want to pray for them?"

Trevor nodded and sat up with her. He took her hands, and they bowed their heads and closed their eyes. "Dear Jesus, thank You for bringing my mom and dad together again and for this second chance You are giving them. We ask that You help them to keep their focus on You and bless their marriage tremendously and that they will stay together forever this time. We love You, Jesus, and we ask these things in Your name."

Trevor and Miranda both said, "Amen," then kissed each other goodnight and went back to sleep.

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