The Lord has ordained your marriage in order to kill both of you!

I enjoyed the posting above and it ties in with an excerpt I have posted below from a sermon I read online on Friday evening and it has to be one of the most honest writings that I have personally read about being married, in a Christian context. We are not called to have a marriage like the world.

The speaker is Paul Washer and the link to the whole semon in transcript PDF format can be downlaoded here:  http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=gcc  It really is worth a read. 

Destroying Pop-Christian views of Marital Bliss 1

“What is the real purpose of marriage? The real purpose of marriage is the same purpose shared by every other thing that occurs on this planet. The real purpose of marriage is that you both be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

You know, everything that could go wrong for a lot of people trying to come to this marriage, this wedding, it went wrong. And do you want to know why? It is a prophecy. It is a microcosm of what your marriage is to be. Do you want a perfect marriage? Then you want what God does not want. All these things happened so that you would realize that God doesn’t want a perfect little wedding. He wants to try you and test you so that you will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

Now when we speak about the image of Jesus Christ and being conformed to that image, what do we speak about? Do we speak about his justice even though he is just? No. Do we speak about his wrath even though he can be wrathful? No. When we sing the great hymns of Zion, what, principally, are the characteristics of God that come forth? They are this. They are mercy, grace and unconditional love. Anyone found in Scripture...when the moment the name Jesus occurs they hear it, they read it. The three things that are most pronounced about him are mercy, grace and unconditional love. Those are the things that you sing about. But they are the things you are most likely not to reflect in your life. Because although he is unconditional, we are conditional.

We are conditional. And that is the one thing that God will seek to destroy in both of you, conditions, conditions. He has sovereignly give you a woman that is strong in all the areas where she must be strong so that you are not tempted beyond what you can bear. He has given you a husband who will be strong in all the areas where he must be strong so that you are not tempted beyond what you can bear, sister. But God has also given you a woman and he himself orchestrated her weaknesses and they will be weaknesses in her life that will most rub you the wrong way. And he has given you a man who has weaknesses orchestrated, ordained. In his mysterious sovereignty he has given you a man who is weak in the areas where maybe you will want him to be most strong.

Basically, this. He has given to you each other and neither of you meet all the conditions. And the purpose of that is not to give you bliss on earth, but to make your love unconditional, that you will love her and care for her when she does not meet the condition. And you will love him and care for him when he does not meet the conditions. And the reason for that is this. You are not in it for the individual. You are not in it for each other. You are in it for the glory of God and becoming every thing, everything that he would want you to be.”