Marriage is a partnership that binds two people together, so that anything that affects one partner affects the other. This is the reason why it is so important for a believer to select a mate who also shares a love for Elohim and similar convictions about how to worship Him. When you stand together in faith, you will be able to strengthen and support one another, becoming stronger as a pair than you could be as individuals. But by marrying outside the faith, one looses this important source of support. All daughters of Zion must be careful of whom to court, date or marry.
King Solomon’s greatness as a ruler was ultimately destroyed by the divided loyalties his foreign wives brought into the kingdom. Solomon adopted the gods they brought with them. The same trap awaits anyone who allows other loyalties to compete with her devotion to ELOHIM.
TELL YAHWEH FIRST
Let Yahweh be the first to know all your plans, and trust HIM to take control. Then wait patiently for him to act and HE will do the one that will last with peace and love. YAHWEH does the best. Let Him chose a good lasting life partner for you, because when YAHWEH chooses for you, your marriage is bountifully blessed. HE did not promise a problem free marriage rather HE will help you to carry all the burdens that come up in your marriage. Marriage is like a garden or vineyard which needs more than sun and the rain to tend it. Insects can invade, as can other animals. Small foxes might seem harmless, but they can quickly ruin a vineyard in a bloom. Like the foxes, small annoyance or argument may seem insignificant, but over time it can ruin the best of relationship. We may make out plans, but Yahweh has the last word. Ask YAHWEH to bless your plans, you will be successful in carrying them out.
TRUST YAHWEH
When YAHWEH told Abraham that he would receive many blessings. Abraham was hardly in a receptive mood, he moaned he has no son, what good is blessing. His and Sarah’s childlessness was all that he could see at that time. Many couples today feel this despair, the result of many factors such as delay in starting a family and difficulty in having a lasting relationship. Abraham believed the promise of Yahweh to give him and Sarah a son and many other descendants, but trusting in Yahweh to deliver, became more difficult as time went by. It was fourteen years later that Abraham was given the promised son. During Rebecca’s time, the highest honor a woman could receive is having children; and it took twenty years before Rebecca became pregnant and then she had twins, Gen. 25-21-24.
Yahweh can and does intervene at any age for any person, including those who assume their productive years are over. Energies and priorities may change, but commitment to YAHWEH must remain strong. When frustration tempts you to take matters into your own hands, recall some of Yahweh’s promises that took a long time but did eventually came true. Use that memory to fortify your trust that Yahweh is still at work. Trust YAHWEH in everything. Blessing delayed is not blessing denied.
SIN CAN DELAY BLESSINGS
Sins delay and destroy blessings fast like locust destroys farm,casting up all the crops in the farm.
Achan, during Joshua’s time, took some loot for himself and YAHWEH was very angry with the entire nation of Israel because of this, and they were defeated in battle, by a small nation Al (Joshua 71-26). Despite the fact that David was a king, the Almighty was annoyed with him when be committed murder and adultery. He lost the child born from the adultery with Bathsheba, also murder became a constant threat in his family from that time on. This prophecy was fulfilled in two tragic ways; David’s own son Absalom rebelled against him and stole his wives. Amon and Absalom, David’s sons, met with violent death. 11 Samuel 13:28-29, 11 Samuel 18:14 and 1 King 2:23-25.
David will no doubt have resisted the urge to pursue Bathsheba, if he could have foreseen these terrible consequences. It is a fact that man usually refuses to acknowledge the truth that humans will always reap just exactly what they reap sow, Galatians 6:7. Most sinners repress their guilt and are blind to Yahweh’s anger and would prefer that Elohim were asleep or indifferent. Sin involves hidden and bitter consequences, yet when we repent and seek Yahweh’s forgiveness, He will always forgive us and restore our lives and blessings to us. Are you considering sin or temptation? Don’t even think it! You may find out that what you get is not at all what you bargained for. Know it that you should not deliberately sin by rejecting the Saviour after knowing the truth of forgiveness, this sin is not covered by the Messiah’s death, see Hebrews 10:26-29. Have you sinned? Yahweh wants to restore you as He did to David. Begin by admitting your sin as David did to Elohim and turn away from any further involvement. Then admit your sin to others and get help or counseling. Yahweh graciously gives us second chance as we grow in this life. But do not misuse them!
LEARN PERSEVERANCE
To persevere means to endure to the end. Yahweh does not want anyone to give up half way in anything. “He that endures to the end shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13).
The key to endurance or perseverance is trust/faith in Yahweh and in His truth. Perseverance is much more than pressing on, it comes from being convinced that Yahshua is with us and will guide us, reward us and one day return for us. “Do not forget those wonderful days when you first learned about the Messiah Remember how you kept right on with Yahweh even though it meant terrible suffering. Do not let this happy trust in YAHWEH die away, no matter what happens. Remember your reward and your need to keep on patiently doing Yahweh’s will, if you want HIM to do for you all that He has promised. Those whose faith has made them good in Yahweh’s sight must live by faith, trusting HIM in everything. Otherwise, if they shrink back, Yahweh will have no pleasure in them”. A true believer should always have strong faith in Almighty Yahweh. Faith is confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead. By faith, by believing in YAHWEH we know that the world and the stars in fact, all things were made at Yahweh’s command; and that they were all made from things that can’t be seen.
Abel had faith in Elohim and obeyed HIM by bringing offering that pleased Elohim. Yahweh accepted Abel and proved it by accepting his gift. Though Abel is long dead we can still learn lessons from him about trusting Elohim.
Abraham’s faith was tested when Elohim called him to give up his son Isaac, the promised one. And Elohim did not let him down Enoch trusted Yahweh and had strong faith in Him. That is why Yahweh took him away to heaven without dying. Genesis 3:21:24. Some women (e.g. Tamah, Rebekkah, Tabita, Mary Magdalene, Ruth, Miriam the mother of the Messiah etc) through faith, received their loved ones back again from death. Others trusted Elohim and were beaten to death preferring to die, rather than turn from YAHWEH and be free trusting that they would rise to a better life afterwards in eternity.
Sickness and death are inevitable. Only faith in YAHWEH can help us accept that truth and to deal with it. Look at the challenge that faced Jairus concerning his daughter, the Messiah asked him not to be afraid but trust in Yahweh’s ways and timing. Elohim has control over all things, even sickness. He is bigger than any illness. You can never please YAHWEH without faith, without depending on Him. Anyone who wants to come to YAHWEH must believe that He is and that HE rewards those who sincerely look for Him.
WAIT FOR YOUR TIME
There is a right time for everything. Yahweh is a master planner and works with time. He will never place first thing in last position or last in place of first. Be sure that you are not the only one on line before Yahweh. All of us are on line, requesting for one thing or another. So, the Almighty will answer us all according to the urgency and our number on His list and according to His time. He knows it will favour us. Everything is appropriate in its own time and there is your own time, it will not pass you by.
And I know this that whatever Yahweh does is final, nothing can be added or taken from it. Let Yahweh’s time work for you and you will forever be the happiest for it.
FINALLY WAIT DILIGENTLY
Worry solves nothing, agitation worsens it, jealousy or envy disturbs while complaining destroys it. When Hezekiah took stock of his situation, the outlook was grim. The city was facing Assyrian threat and he was about to give up. Hezekiah prayed and they were victorious. Rachael was unable to have children for years after her marriage unlike her sister Leah… But later she had two boys. Whether your desire is for a child, a new job, a husband, good health, new home or something else for your family, pray and wait for Yahweh’s timing. Your reaction to the delay shows how much you trust Him.
In the best of times, we should pray joyfully, in the worst of time. Let us pray and confidently trust Yahweh to act. So, do not give up! Talk to Yahweh, and so do give your family problems to Him in prayer. David knew that impatience can lead to dangerous and sinful choices. When life is not going the way we want it, especially over several months or years, our faith in Yahweh’s timing is really tested. Home is the most difficult place to be patient. But always remember that Yahweh has not forgotten you. Wait for YAHWEH to act. Though His intervention may seem overdue, patience will help you avoid making a hasty choice you will later regret.
Don’t be impatient, wait for YAHWEH, and He will come and save you! Be brave, stout-hearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and He will help you! (MZ).
-OLA Akinpelu
