I recently saw a movie of a young married couple who were having marital problems. Neither the man nor the woman knew Christ as Savior and were trying to work out these problems on their own.
The young man, who was successful in his job, was full of pride and arrogance to the point of thinking he couldn’t be wrong. His wife, who was also successful in her career field, grew tired of her husband’s ways and started looking for companionship outside of her marriage.
This marriage seemed doomed and divorce was imminent.
Communication was lacking in this marriage because blame was being pointed at each other.
The man had visions of what he could do and accomplish with items of the world. He also had problems of viewing inappropriate material on the internet due to the lack of attention from his wife. His wife looked for attention in her workplace and found someone willing to listen to her and give her comfort.
The earthly father of the young man was able to talk with his son and ask him to try and work the problems out with his wife. Reluctantly he accepted and through what his earthly father had asked him to do; he eventually came to know the Lord as his Savior. His outlook on life gained a new vision and he went to work trying to save his marriage.
In our lives today we as individuals have so much pride and arrogance that we tend to push our agendas ahead of anyone or anything that gets in our way. As some would say, “It’s our way or the highway.” Not only are we doing this in our lives but we are seeing countries around the world doing the same.
Though many of us that know the Lord personally we have trouble of getting ourselves out of the way and letting the Lord have His way.
Just as the minor prophet Obadiah told the Edomites in the Old Testament the Lord God is in control and He will ultimately have His way.
The country of Edom, the descendants of Esau, had built themselves into a lofty position of housing and prestige and felt that they could follow the Babylonians in plundering the people of Judah and robbing them of their possessions.
Edom had become like a vulture and would go in after the kill and after the Babylonians had already had their fill. Edom felt high and mighty and allowed their pride to show because of their bounty even though it came at the hands of someone else. Edom took advantage of God’s people, the descendants of Jacob, Esau’s brother, instead of helping them.
One thing that Edom failed to recognize was that God was in control and used the Babylonians to discipline His children. Edom saw themselves as Eagles when in fact they were only vultures following someone else’s victory.
They had forgotten that God never forsakes His people and keeps His promises and commitments.
Just as the young couple with marriage problems, God used people outside their marriage to bring them to the realization of what true commitment is. The man’s earthly father led the young man into a relationship with the Holy God as well as how a marriage commitment should be. The young man loved his wife and didn’t want to lose her but he needed to change his ways and lose the pride and arrogance.
The young woman saw the new ways of her husband and realized he was a better person than she thought he was. When she realized this she quit looking on the outside for comfort and help and once again found trust in her husband.
All of us need to realize that we are only on this earth for a short time and even though we think we are in control, we are not. God has promised that He will take care of His people even though He has to discipline them when they get out of line. He also allows those that will open their hearts to Him to gain a new understanding.
GARY ANDREWS' devotional appears each week on the Church Pages of your Clarksdale Press Register. You can contact him at GARY@gadevotionals.com
