"For he [Abraham] is the father of us all, as Scripture says: 'I have appointed you
to be father of many nations.' This promise, then, was valid before God,
the God in whom he put his faith, the God who makes the dead live and summons
things that are not yet in existence as if they already were" (NEB).
Recently we witnessed the sad wreckage of a broken home, the husband and wife alienated and the children suffering. And they were miserably unhappy, too.
So often it's like a broken egg; no one seems able to put it together again--happily. And the pain is deep; money and fine cars don't help. Even trips to Hawaii don't heal the wounds.
There are tons of books about what to do. But a list of rules makes one feel helpless. Is it possible that the Gospel can help?
No matter what mistakes the husband and wife have made, the Gospel presents Good News:
(1) God cares about your marriage, in fact, more than you do. If it breaks up, He is the One who gets the rap, because it embarrasses Him. He's the one who invented marriage; and if it doesn't work, the real pain is on Him. (And of course, He feels the deeper pain the children feel, that no one can express.)
(2) It was God who brought the two of you together. "When we're so unsuited to each other?!" you say? Well, He knows the two of you better than yourselves know. He knows what the problem is, and He knows that if you will believe that He brought you together, and if you can trust Him because He did so, springs of healing can be opened to flow again. You may think you can't trust each other; but a choice to trust Him sets you free from your dark bondage, into sunlight.
(3) "But suppose the love is dead?" It's time to believe Romans 4:17. If there is to be a resurrection when Jesus comes, then there must be a resurrection of "dead" love now. Yes! By the same One who presides at both resurrections.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
