As I read this morning in Song of Solomon/Songs, my heart was of course stirred with a deep love for my own wife, Carrie. I was awakened and reminded of how intensely we have loved and do love and how much joy I find in my wife. Marriage is hard though, and Song of Solomon was written about a couple during their engagement season and then early marriage. As the years go along, marriage is a labor of love truly. My wife and I talk about how it truly is one of the hardest things we have to labor in love for another person in this life.

My prayers for our marriage often branch out into prayers for the marriages of my friends. It’s quiet here in the cool of a Twain Harte, CA morning, and I can’t help but believe God is awakening a generation to seeing the truly refreshing reality that there is hope for every marriage, but there is also hope for every heart when faced with the challenge of trusting God.

Carrie and I consented to a difficult truth yesterday about marriage – when it comes down to it, our beefs and battles aren’t ultimately with each other but with God. When we struggle in this life, it’s not ultimately with each other. It’s a struggle with God. Well, this should really be as refreshing as it is hard to agree with when it comes down to it. God is not easy to tangle with! He wounds us when we really get into the wrestle – Jacob’s hip, remember? That doesn’t seem fare at all! Yet, it is. If He didn’t wound us, He would have to destroy us, because we probably wouldn’t learn before facing the judgment one day.

I met a professing believer the other day who stated clearly that she believes we don’t need saving. The more I reflect on where that kind of belief leaves the human heart, the more I’m convinced that it is not a good place. Believing that I don’t need God to save me from my sin and its consequences is one of the loneliest places possible for my heart. Life can already be lonely, but I can’t image my life without the comfort of rest in God’s Word and Holy Spirit. He is with me and works in me to will and to work for His good pleasure.

May we come together as siblings of Jesus Christ, our Big Brother, our Savior, our LORD, our GOD, our Advocate before God’s throne, our REDEEMER. May we come together and admire our LORD and cherish Him. May we hear Him calling us daily (reminds me of the book title “Jesus Is Calling”).

Though I believe Song of Solomon is first and directly about marital love, I think we can gently apply some strong allegory to our Savior’s seeking of us and alluring us into more and more sweet fellowship with Him. I’m not going to the “Jesus is my boyfriend” theme here. I mean that we must, when all is solidified in our mind and heart, settle and rest into a place of contentment and trust with our Savior. In this place of satisfaction ever growing in Christ and our worship of God and prayer in nearly every moment, seeking constant trust and dependance upon God… Here in that place of trust, we find the courage to engage instead of retreat when it comes to all other relationships in their priority under God.

Let’s be rested and ready to love one another because we are caught up in the Love of God for us and our response love, ever intensifying, for our LORD.

“My beloved speaks and says to me:
‘Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
THe flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.'”

Song of Solomon 2:10-13