POST 3 - Art of Being a Wife - GRAND ARCHITECTURE

 Feb. 12, 2021

Part three in a mini-series about marriage from Letters to my Daughters - The Art of Being a Wife.  Today's blog compares marriage to grand architecture.  These notes are taken from Barbara Rainey's book.  They are a condensenced version that I hope will give you encouragement for your marriage and maybe encourage you to read her book. 

1.  There are many grand and beautiful cathedrals in the world.  They give you the feeling of the grandeur of God.  They are magnificient structures but many of them now are void of His Holy Spirit. Marriages are like churches.  Some of them are magnificient cathedrals while others are country churches.  It does not matter the size, but what matters is the people who make up the congregation and if they are alive with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Each marriage must be filled with the Holy Spirit and follow His leading for their lives, so that their marriage will be all it was built to be.  Then the marriage, like the church spire, will point others to Christ.

2.  Every building has a foundation that is put in place before the building begins.  We need to remember our Biblical foundations - the Rock, Christ.  Know that you are each His children.  Know what His Word says. Know your marriage will not glorify Christ unless you stand firm on your faith in Christ. If you are struggling ask yourselves these questions.  Is Jesus the Cornerstone of my life? And my marriage?

3.  Inside many of the beautiful cathedrals are rooms set aside for prayer. Prayer is so important and should be one of the cornerstones for our marriges.  Do you take time to pray for your mate?  Not praying that God would change him as you think he needs changed.  But rather praying for God to work in His life, praying that your mate would seek God with all his heart and be yielded to His will.

4.  Buildings are not complete or functional without doors.  Doors allow entrance into the next room. So it is with our marriages.  We must have access to each others lives and the rooms in each other's hearts. Communicating is what builds a doorway between couples.  Refusing to talk to one another is like building a wall where a door should be. Sometimes when framing in the door, there is a problem with the structure and things don't go right.  When that happens you have to back up and start over with the building process.  But you don't quit.  For the building to be what it is intended you must go forward with the building process.

5. Most construction projects have surpirses in them - it takes longer than you thought it would, costs more than you planned, or something comes up that you had not anticipated.  Marriage is a work in progress too!! We don't know what the future holds or what might come up.  But we do know God is there with us.  God can help us keep from making costly mistakes.... or He can heal them if they've happened.  He has promised He will never leave or forsake us.  Remember our marriages will work much better if we follow the Architect!!