Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Friday, June 1, 2018 | Topic: Conscience 34
Scripture: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6
Note: With minimal interests in terms of commonality between husband and wife, Hosea and Gomer set off into the blissful journey of marriage with a rather heavy handicap. Yet, relying heavily on the strength of God’s confirmation to Hosea to proceed with the unlikely marriage, Hosea had been emboldened to press on, as there was a definite divine purpose for their marriage. The future of Israel was going to be dependent on how their marriage panned out, a reason that far eclipsed their parochial interest.
The likely scenario for a marriage of convenience with minimal interest to share between the couple, automatically introduced the “Go your way, I go my way” syndrome into the relationship. This syndrome is normally not a problem at the beginning of most relationships when the attraction between the couple is magnetically very strong. The syndrome has a deceptive way of masking potentially dangerous but essential differences that needs immediate sorting out as irrelevant and not urgent for the moment. This philosophical syndrome of “Go your way, I go my way” mantra is a reckless one to start with.
When real strain and difficulties arising from normal marital relationship begin to take their toll on the marriage, this reckless mantra that seeks to promote individual interests and independence from each other at the expense of the larger interest of the unity in marriage begins to snap. Marriages will demand the need for common interests. Therefore when a common strain is introduced into the relationship, it immediately begins to reveal the weaknesses in the marriage. The common strain that was introduced into the marriage between Hosea and Gomer was the birth of Jezreel.
Children aren’t imaginary introduction into marriages. Children aren’t aware of individual interests of parents. Children don’t understand individual conveniences of parents. When the needs of children ought to be met, it isn’t the time to talk about the urgency of ministry and missions. The needs of children are almost always necessary and urgent. Jezreel was in, and there was the urgent need for essential adjustments by his parents to accommodate him as a new member of the family. There was a need to achieve a true balance between parenting and the ministry. In their case that was inescapable. A feeling of parental abandonment mostly on the part of husbands using work, busyness or even ministry as excuses are untenable. Such negative responses to the wife only succeeds in introducing deep cracks into the relationship, sending wrong signals that lead to anger and in worse cases bitterness on the part of the wives.
Food for thought: Marriage is an institution that’s unforgiving and notorious for revealing cracks that were introduced as a result of inability to attain balance in core priorities.
Declaration: A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is His delight. Proverbs 11:1
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
