Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late; to eat the bread of [anxious] toil–for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep. Behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127: 1,2, NKJV
Lord, how grateful we are that we have Your Word to guide us in the important things of life. Amen
When we talk about marriage, what really constitutes the house? What is it that the Lord builds? Is it the four walls, the roof, the steps, the door, and windows? Is it the furnishings, the china, and the silverware? Does He build our assets? Or is there another area of marriage that God is most interested in building? I do believe that He does build our assets, especially when we are faithful stewards and put Him first. I believe that when we make good financial decisions and invest our means wisely, God will bless our finances. But I have come to appreciate the fact that God is more interested in people than in things.
Therefore, I believe that God is especially interested in building the character of the people who are a part of the marriage. He is more interested in building the relationships of those within the marriage. And if we allow Him, He will build husbands and wives, that are morally, and spiritually strong. The children that are born into these homes are prayed for, and held in high esteem. They bring joy and pride to their progenitors. They are treasured, and are constantly reminded that they are God’s gift to their parents. It is most likely that as a result, the children coming from these homes, will themselves be morally and spiritually strong, and will go forth from these homes and form homes of their own that are “built” by the God of their parents, who has become their God.
When God builds a house there is peace. The members toil faithfully; free from the anxieties that plague our modern day society. Therefore, they are blessed with peaceful sleep, and their rest is sweet. They are conscious that their security is in the Lord who keeps watch at the gates. I know this probably sounds like utopia; but the truth is, as I said on another occasion, God intended for our homes to be little heavens on earth. The problem is that we decided that we would build our own homes. So we built the foundations upon human philosophies, and the cornerstone became the opinion of humans. As a result these are the shocking statistics:
*Fifty percent of those who marry today will divorce.
*On the stress scale, divorce and separation are ranked 2nd and 3rd. Only the death of a spouse is rated higher.
*More than 80 percent of those who are divorced will remarry within three years and 65 percent of those marriages will fail again.
*More than a million children each year are involved in divorce and more than 13 million children under 18 live with one parent so that single parent families are growing at a rate twenty times faster than two parent families. sowingseedsoffaith.com:A Christian Response To Divorce
However, if your house has crumbled, or is crumbling, do not despair. God wants to help you. It may not be too late! Give Him the pieces; and let us allow the Lord to build, or, re-build, our houses. He has the Master Plan!