"God can inspire the coming together of two individuals but He always leaves them with the responsibility to manage and sustain the relationship He inspired." - CEO
Eccle. 9:10a (ISV) Whatever thactivity in which you engage, do it with all your ability_
This post is in a way sequel to a previously published post. Let me quickly do a recap. I have pointed out before that God leaves certain things to us to handle. He won't do what He has asked us to do. He has His own role which He does play perfectly, and He has given us ours. He may help us as we play ours (that's if we allow Him to) but He won't altogether take over our own responsibility. The first thing I want to help you appreciate today is that God does inspire relationships. He can and may pair two persons together, as He chooses. It may be for the purpose of business or ministry as in the case of Paul and Barnabas, or for the purpose of marriage as it was with Isaac and Rebecca. Sometimes when you look at how some couples came together, it is clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that God was the one who orchestrated the union. Lots of couples in this day and time have such stories. I actually do believe that a couple should be able to say without mincing words that God brought them together. That said, it's not always the norm though, even in the Bible. All those who don't have such stories should also know that God honours their marriage.
Now although God may influence, engineer and inspire the coming together of a man and a woman in such a manner that cannot be disputed, He leaves them with the responsibility to manage their relationship/marriage. Even recent history shows that some heavenly inspired unions still failed eventually because the persons involved mismanaged what God started. So, the fact that your relationship/marriage was birthed by certain jaw-dropping, strange and marvellous divine happenings does not make it immune to failure. If you fail to learn what you should and to do what God expects of you in order to preserve that wonderful, relationship, it will fail like any other relationship that had no divine history. You should know that if care is not taken, a thing that starts supernaturally can crash and end up like it was always ordinary. The Bible tells us of how David wept and lamented over Saul saying that he died like a man who was never anointed with oil. David understood that anointed people should not die like mere men. Saul started great but he crashed. That's a lesson for us all. We should not be proud about the way our relationships/marriages started. The history of your relationship isn't as important as the current responsibility you have in your hands to manage it. So, brace up and get to work.
The question then is, what's the way to manage your relationship? What's the way to manage your marriage? Our Bible text today tells us to give our relationships our very best. This entails that we learn what makes relationships work well and that we apply ourselves to doing what we have learnt. Your relationship cannot be the best it can be until you give it the best you can give. This is why there should never be a better yesterday in your relationship. It gets better as your commitment gets stronger. The joy we harvest from our relationships is the one we planted as seeds. The peace we enjoy is the harvest of the seeds we planted.
Many relationships that started on a heavenly note failed because those involved didn't manage their emotions properly, they made rash decisions and mismanaged their disagreements. Human pride can stop a divine work. In managing your relationship with your spouse/partner, you need to learn too manage your ego. There are times when we need to submit to each other. Submission does not mean you're weak or stupid. Even Jesus who by status was in the very form of God, laid aside His majesty, submitted to the purpose of the Godhead, and became a human being just to fulfil something God always wanted. When we gladly and lovingly submit to each other, we're able to not only preserve our relationship/marriage but we also see the vision/plan of God for our relationships coming to pass. May the grace to properly manage your relationship, marriage and home be multiplied to you now and always.
Yours Always, Thelovejunkie