For Better, for Worse

 STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 
A Daily Devotional by Bishop David Bakare

For Better, for Worse

Tuesday, 10 September

 

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: Ezekiel 37:1-12 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

 

MORE LESSON: Proverbs 24:10 If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

 

In today’s text, the first marriage I instituted by the Almighty Himself was attacked. The enemy had deceived the woman and the couple sinned against God by eating the fruit which He commanded them not to eat. Prior to that time, everything was in order: God created a beautiful garden and placed the man and his wife there. Adam loved Eve so much: the first time he saw her, he exclaimed, as recorded in Genesis 2:33: …This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

God's plan was that marriage should be forever since man was also created to live forever. However, things suddenly changed and the sweet life they enjoyed in the garden suddenly went sour. But Adam did what every married couple should learn from. Genesis 4:1 records, And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. Even though His wife was the cause of their ordeal, Adam did not send her away. He acknowledged the fact that marriage is for better for worse.

Marriage is for a life-time and this is why every unmarried person must prayerfully trust God to find a godly man or woman. Friend, pray that you do not miss your way into the wrong man's life. There are many great men who are married to violent ladies and are always afraid to take guests home. Many pretty, born again women, who are serving the Lord have to hide their Bible from their husbands when going to Church. This is regardless of the fact that it is in church the women pray for the family increase, fruit of the womb, protection and their husbands' promotion. The worst part of it is that marriage is for life. To be a roommate of a terrible young man is an evil that can change at the end of the session or course, but when you are married to an evil man or woman you can't change, or pray that he or she should die. Some children even wish they were not born to their parents and are sad at the thought of going on holiday to meet their fighting Mummy and Daddy.

If done according to God's plan, marriage is designed to be heaven on earth and it is to last a life-time. It is not a testing ground where you pick and drop. So every unmarried man or lady should trust God to choose carefully because marriage is ‘for better for worse’. Similarly, if you are married and the storm is raging against your home, trust God to restore peace.

 

Prayer/Action

* Pray that your children will not marry outside of God's will.

* Pray for fresh wine in home so to access God's blessings.

* Pray that your home will a model to others.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: This month, I will not labour in vain or bring forth trouble, in the wonderful name of Jesus.