May 19 - Proverbs 18:22

He who finds a wife

finds a good thing and

obtains __________.

Proverbs 18:22

Did I "find" my wife? (No. She literally showed up at my door one day!)

Sometimes we seek "Mr. or Mrs. Right." But generally I look at "finding" a husband or wife as a gift.

As grace.

It's not anything we earn. It's something God generally sets up.

No ... I'm not going to be very romantic for a moment. I could talk for a long time about how God worked overtime to keep crossing my path with Mary Louise's. But let's talk generally for a few seconds ...

God set up a system -- graciously -- in which and women have historically made themselves available for marriage at a certain age. And this plan was a "good thing" for many reasons: From sharing joys to sharing burdens, from cooperative support to raising a family, God set up a system that has generally blessed men, women, and children.

Our modern world has competing goals, though, from the historical norms.

Nowadays, the age of marriage (and child rearing) is often pushed back. With varying goals, schedules, and agendas, some of us wind up linked to the wrong person at the wrong time. Then, when the other person (who never had commitment as a goal) "moves on," too many seem to miss their "marrying age," ... and then the pool of available suitors can seem to get even more complicated.

But modern agenda and complications don't negate God's design. A good partnership is still a "good thing," proving God's design.

So here's your challenge: Fill in that blank. Look at our verse for today. If finding a spouse is a "good thing," what else does this verse promise that we will obtain?

Wait! Let me first remind you that the Apostle Paul frequently celebrates the single estate. The monasteries through the centuries wound up celebrating this too. Tying their practice to model of Jesus in his life, they decided that by keeping ourselves pure from physical lusts, we could marry our souls more fully to God.

I say this because I don't want to add discouragement to those who are single. God has a plan and a blessing for all of us! And when we align our lives to God's plan for us, the Lord will show us individually his favor in various forms of richness.

Nevertheless, as we continue to talk about marriage, what is the second half of the blessing promised in today's verse?

Fill in the blank ...

The blessing is "favor from the Lord."

When we align ourselves with God's plan ... there's favor. There's blessing. There's cooperation. There's teamwork and a united purpose. There's often children ... and their blessings too!

There's general favor -- the general yet profound blessings that come from doing things God's way and living cooperatively. Generally, it blesses our community and our world.

But there's also specific favor. God will work in you individually to the glory of his name whenever you are yielded to him and his ways.

Question: Are you fully yielding yourself to God's plan for your life and marriage? What ways is God generally blessing you? What ways is God specifically blessing you?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who was lost

but now is found