One of God’s greatest inventions is marriage. Creating a loving environment where two people can find perfect harmony with each other, live free from conflict and drama, produce well-behaved and respectful children who will place no demands on their parents and honor them by taking care of those same parents in their old age, produce grandchildren that are clearly superior to all others in spite of the person our kids chose to marry. Two perfect people finding each other and making a stress-free life together. Marriage is an incredible invention!
Rarely is the person we live with the same person we thought we were marrying when we said “I do.” Everyone changes, everyone settles into a comfort zone, everyone drifts into patterns according to their wiring, their upbringing, their disposition.
A mother was discussing with her daughter about the qualities to look for in a husband. She stressed that a husband and wife should be as much alike as possible in interests and backgrounds. The daughter brought up the point that opposites often attract. “Listen,” the Mom said, “just being a man and a woman is opposite enough.”
Opposites: shampoo, colors [sign in paint store. Men may not select paint color without a note from their wives], what it takes to operate, babies-Mom with baby. Dad.
One of the leading causes of divorce is isolation – ladies used to sit around in the shade shelling peas, talking about the ignorant things their husbands did. Wives today think their husband is the only one who does those things. Older women taught younger women there’s a whole world full of them.
Dad was helping his daughter with homework: "Here is the situation," she said. "A man is standing up in a boat in the middle of a river, fishing. He loses his balance, falls in, and begins splashing and yelling for help. His wife hears the commotion, knows he can't swim, and runs down to the bank. Why do you think she ran to the bank?" The dad answered, "To draw out all his savings before everything goes into probate."
A wife said to her husband, "Go to the store and buy a loaf of bread. If they have eggs, buy a dozen." Her husband went to the store. They had eggs. He returned with 12 loaves of bread.
Guy noticed that is father seemed to be losing his hearing, so he mentioned it to his mother, asking if it was presenting any problems. "Things haven’t changed that much," she said. "Only difference is, before, he didn’t listen. Now, he can’t."
Guy talking with his friend: Wow, your wife was really yelling at you. What was going on? She was saying I don’t listen to her. Or something like that.
Women want men to change and they never will.
Men want women not to change and they do, every other day.
I’ve heard moms talking about how they changed from the first child to the last. One said having children had mellowed her out. If the first child even coughed or sneezed, she’d wrap her up and get her to the clinic. But when the third child swallowed a dime, she told him, “That’s coming out of your allowance.”
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1st baby: You were determined to make it through delivery with no anesthetic.
2nd baby: You take drugs as soon as the nurse offers them.
3rd baby: You request an epidural when you check in.
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor you put it away until you can go home and disinfect it properly.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor you rinse it in a water fountain and put it back in your baby’s mouth.
3rd baby: You wipe it on your shirt and pop it back in.
1st baby: We insisted on brand new clothes for our baby.
2nd baby: We recycled the clothes number one used.
3rd baby: We tried to recycle the same clothes the other two used until number three got old enough to talk and said, “But they’re girls and I’m a boy.”
Words took on new meaning:
Dumbwaiter: Wait staff who asks if the children would like dessert.
Feedback: The inevitable result when the baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.
Full Name: What you call your child when you're angry with him.
Grandparents: The people who think their grandkids are wonderful even though they're sure the parents aren’t raising them right.
Show Off: Somebody else’s child or grandchild who is more talented than yours.
My mom used the spit on the handkerchief method of cleaning my face. Didn’t really appreciate it at the time until I read Scientists have proven that a Mom’s spit is the exact chemical composition of Formula 409. Guys, get your wife to spit on a Kleenex – you’ll get rust off the bumper of your car and grass stains off your golf clubs.
Without any competition to prove it, we all felt our mom was the greatest mom. In fact, probably every mom has a card, a t-shirt or coffee mug that says, "World's Greatest Mom."
Dermot McCann felt that way. He forgot his lines in a Sunday school play. Luckily his mother was in the front row to prompt him. She mouthed the words: 'I am the light of the world.' Dermot beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice announced, 'My mom is the light of the world!'
Your family is just like Dermot. In their heart there is no Mom greater than their mom. You win hands down.
So, if you are a Mom, or if you had a mom, who holds your rope?
A group of scientists and botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps in search of new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both sides. To get the flower someone had to be lowered over the cliff hanging from a rope. A curious young boy was watching nearby, and the scientists told him they would pay him well if he would agree to be lowered over the cliff to retrieve the flower below. The boy took one long look down the steep, dizzy depths and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” A short time later he returned, followed by an older man. Approaching the botanist, the boy said, “I’ll go over that cliff and get that flower for you if this man holds the rope. He’s my dad.”
There aren’t many times in life where we physically hang from a rope and someone holds the other side. But we’ve all had someone we’ve felt we could trust with our lives.
But, there is only so far our confidence in another person can take us. When Jan and I were married, I thought I was the one who was to hold her rope. I tried but found I wasn’t adequate. I couldn’t always provide everything she wanted from me.
My strength is limited, my ability can waver, in the middle of a need, I might be taking a nap. Sometimes I wasn’t even around at the time she needed me. I’ll hold on as long as I can but my hands eventually will lose their grip.
So, we need someone else to hold the rope. Someone with superior strength, the strongest grip, the greatest determination, and has promised He will not to let us go. Who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond anything we could ask or think.
Jesus said, “My Father is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch you out of the Father’s hand.” (Jn 10:29)
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. (Ps 63:8)
The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. (Ps 37:23-24)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. (Ps 46:1-3)
My dad used to say: When you reach the end of your rope, tie and knot and sit on the knot. Because God is holding the other end.
Thomas Dorsey
If you haven’t been where Thomas Dorsey was, you will. We’re either going into a struggle, are in a struggle or coming out of a struggle, or between struggles. Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (Jn 16:33)
To say God is holding your rope is to know you have placed your life in His hand. If you haven’t, invite Him in to take over. He’s much better equipped to run things than we are.
I invite you today to rest in the arms of Jesus. Casting your cares on Him, for He cares for you.
TAKEAWAYS:
- Life is too hard to try it on our own.
- “God is with us” is a promise to believers directly from God Himself.
- Trust in the Lord is a command and a promise that He will direct our lives.
- We can rest on the rope when we know the One who holds the other end.
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