Faith is the engine that will take you from the altar until death parts you. Life is filled with uncertainties and plans that are only dreams or visions. It takes faith to keep moving toward unfulfilled goals.
Faith can move mountains. Scripture says, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you,” Matthew 17:20. When I was a child the pastor told a story about a woman who had a big mountain behind her house. It made traveling from one place to another inconvenient. She decided to pray about the removal of the mountain. She got down on her kneels and prayed. She got up, turned around and said, “I knew He wasn’t going to do it. When she got on her knees she had no faith and when she got up she had no faith. You can’t move anything without faith. The book of Hebrews says, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently search for him.” NET Bible. Faith is essential for a healthy Christian and a healthy marriage. When you stood at the altar or before the Justice of the Peace, faith was present. Faith was there when you decided to combine your resources to build a life together. Faith was essential when you and your spouse made your first major purchase, perhaps a car, a home or furniture.
Faith is essential for a meaningful relationship and faith is crucial for the journey. Vowels were exchanged at the beginning of your life together, but without faith in each other it is very unlikely that you would have made it pass the first month. If you look at a marriage that stood the test of time, you will find numerous events that required faith. Often the word faith is not mentioned, but it is everywhere present. When my parents left the town where they were born, baptized, married, raised their children and moved to Cape May it took faith. They bought land, developed the land and built a house. They were both seniors without jobs. There was a scripture that puzzled me so I asked my father to explain it. The scripture said, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” Hebrews 11:1. My father explained that he needed a job, but he could not see the job, so faith was the substance that indicated that God had a blessing for him. My father said that faith was also evidence that a job was forthcoming. He did get a job and my mother found meaningful employment, as well. My parents had a marriage that was bathed in faith in God, faith in each other and faith for their 49.3-year marriage.
MONTHLY QUESTIONS:
1. Give an example of a time when you had to have faith in your spouse.
2. Give an example of a time when your spouse had faith in you.
3. Share a story about how faith for the journey worked in your marriage.
Comments