Prompt: A Happy Family, photo, digital art, by Larry Elmore, by Justin Gerard

Note: This article contains the third main point and the conclusion of the message that I just delivered this morning in our Chapel Service. You can check the first three parts here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The emphasis in this last part is that you can trust the power of grace that has been manifested both in your past and present struggles is the same grace that will work in whatever situation that you will encounter in months or years to come.

And here's how I conclude our story:

God’s grace will heal whatever hostility you will encounter in the coming days.

Genesis 25:23 reads:

One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.

This promise referred to Israel's future that Jacob's descendants would be established in Canaan and that they would extend the rule of God, particularly over the descendants of Esau. This promise was of particular importance to Moses and his generation for it was during their time that they fought with the Edomites, the seed of Esau.

This time, I want to relate this truth to all the singles who are contemplating looking for a lifelong companion. Finding a partner is not something to be rushed. Take your time to prepare yourself. Preparing yourself personally does not mean that you don’t believe in the power of grace. I see it as preventive grace if you don’t want to experience curative grace as pains start to emerge due to a lack of preparation.

By preparation, I mean a holistic one. For men, economic and financial preparation is a must. Don’t believe in short-sighted advice. Soon you will find that those who give you unwise advice will not be there when troubles in your relationship start to appear.

Without preparation, you are like a buyer going into the market without money, a farmer going to his field without a tool, or a soldier going to the battlefield without his weapons. Many have entered marriage taking for granted the necessary preparation and that to me is foolish.

Richard Baxter, an English Puritan gave directions to consider to prepare for a happy marriage. If you want to serve God in your married state, take his counsel seriously. If the consent of parents is necessary, how much more is the consent of God?

Remember that in marriage, your obligations will multiply. Remember that your needs in marriage are more difficult to satisfy than in your single state. It is far easier to bear personal needs than to see the needs of your wife and your children unsatisfied. Your love for them will make you suffer and dissatisfied. It is not an easy trial to bear to hear your children and your wife asking for something that you are incapable of providing.

Remember too that your lifelong partner is not an angel, but a person with many weaknesses. While in the stage of romance, you tend to overlook them but soon they will show up. They will test your patience and touch your pride. And if you happen to marry a person with just a superficial interest in godliness, your affliction will increase for the person closest to you is the most powerful influence to cloud your judgment, to make your heart cold, and to kill your prayers.

Remember that marriage will not only stay for a year, but throughout your life and that is why you need to give careful thought to your preparation before entering marriage. I don’t want to hear any PTS graduate suffering from broken relationships in the future. The suffering of those who went ahead of you is enough to warn you about the dangers ahead.

Conclusion

The grace of God is powerful enough to transform a deceitful person like Jacob. By changing him, God ended the hostility with his brother and used him to be a channel of grace. Here we see that the grace of God is indeed powerful enough to break down the wall of hostility. We have seen the demonstration of such power in our own lives in the past and this guarantees that the same grace will continue to accomplish its work of restoration even in your current broken relationships in your marriages and homes and in whatever hostility that may arise in months or years to come.

The question now is, are you growing in grace? How would you characterize your knowledge of God through the years? Is there growth? How would you describe your love for Jesus compared to the day when God showed his mercy on you? Is it getting warmer and deeper? Or is it getting colder and static?

You know a love that doesn’t grow tends to be boring through the passing of time and it might lead to unfamiliarity and hostility in the end. How would you characterize your relationship with Jesus? Yes, He is our Lord and Savior. However, is He also your friend? Or is your knowledge of Him just superficial and intellectual? Are you growing in intimacy with Jesus? Or do you feel that He is so distant from you?

Unless the hostility of your heart with Jesus has been swallowed or overcome by grace, you cannot expect that the consequences of such hostility will not reflect on your other relationships. First things first. You must settle first your relationship with Jesus. Once it is settled, no matter what your situation is, you will always find strength and comfort as long as Jesus shows His smiling face.

An old hymn says:

What matters where on earth we dwell? On the mountaintop or in the dell. In a cottage or a mansion fair. Where Jesus is, tis heaven there.

Grace and peace!

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