God's gift to husbands. No, really.

A few weeks ago, I had the honor to discuss being a husband with some men in my church.  Here's a voice I echoed many times during our weeks together:

"He who finds a wife finds a GOOD thing and obtains FAVOR from the Lord."  Proverbs 18:22

There was a companion verse that stirs my heart, too:

"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband."  Proverbs 12:4a

Do you believe these things?  Whether you do or not, they are true. Really, it has nothing to do with how you feel.  In fact, our feelings are fickle things.  They change faster than the temperature.  They're unreliable.  Sure they add spice to life, but we cannot live our lives by them.  We need an steady anchor.  We need a compass.  The word of God provides a true-north amidst the stormy seas of 21st century culture.

Consider Adam's delight when first he beheld the woman God prepared for him.  There were no other people.   No men.  No women.  He had no like fellowship, and so God prepared for him the very best present any man could ever have. A woman. One. Not many. No choices. One.

Once we are married, we have married THE woman God has for us.  No second guessing. As the hymn states (forgive taking it out of context), "no turning back." When things get tough, we remember, that our bride is a good thing and as such we have obtained his good favor by her.

So let's live this out.!  Consider your wife as an excellent gift to you.  Be astonished at God's remarkable goodness and grace to you that he would provide you so remarkable a gift as this woman for your wife.