Provision

Our friend Donnie guest-preached today. I love Don. My hubs loves Don. He is smart (even has a Ph.D. attached to his name), funny, adores Jesus, and is the kindest person you will ever come across. I also love his way of thinking, b/c it's usually a bit different, usually spot on, and usually compelling...i.e. leaves me mentally wrestling...and I like that.

What I took away from today on his talk about marriage?

1. Our spouse is not meant to be our oxygen. Our spouse was never meant to meet all of our needs. But when we look to them to be our ultimate meeter of needs, we place them in an unending "blame/credit trap"...when they do right by us/please us, they get all the credit. When they don't (which is likely more often) they get all the blame.

2. God is the source to meet all our needs. He is the Provider, while our spouse is...a provision. Let me say that again in all it's awesomeness: God is the Provider, while our spouse is a provision. If we can get that right, it frees us to want our spouse, not need them. It frees us to be a part of a healthy relationship with our partner, while getting our deepest needs met by the One designed to meet them in the first place.

Pretty good stuff, right? Pretty simple stuff even. So why is it so easy to complicate?