Myth--- "My Marriage Ought to Satisfy Me"
Ever heard of married women saying, "My husband does not satisfy me anymore" or, "My marriage is no longer satisfying"?
That is the most common faulty perspective young wives fall victim to. They think marriage serves as a source of satisfaction in their life. And so begins the vicious cycle of hopping from one relationship to another, yet still failing to find that ultimate gratification. This is no different from people who hop from one job to another seeking for that one career that "satisfies" them.
Notice how people can go at great lengths searching for fulfillment only to find it to be forever elusive? That temporal high which many assume to be the happiness they've pursued all their life is as temporary as its source. It will always slip through your fingers. This is because the peace you seek for is eternal by nature, hence the unending drive for it.
Ladies, if you enter into marriage with this inherent search still unmet, you are bound for disappointment. No man, no matter how rich, how handsome, how smart they are, can ever satisfy you the way you were meant to be filled. That gnawing ache for delectation is reserved for a perfect source, which you can never find on the face of the earth among the fallen male species.
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| This is how empty and dry we are without God. |
A marriage that is satisfying is one that involves a husband and a wife who have both found contentment and joy in their own individual lives. This is the only way they can mutually contribute to, rather than consume from, each other. A very draining marriage is a result of two empty people trying to consume each other's happiness in order to be happy themselves. When you do not have any other source, you will think the person you're married to is the well you can constantly draw from. Endlessly consuming one another's life will end up draining each other. Thus, a drained husband who can no longer drink in from his wife's fountain due to its ceaseless emptiness will begin to search for satisfaction from another 'possible source', or the other way around.
My marriage is as imperfect as everyone else's is. But my husband and I are not left to our own imperfections, and this is where the satisfaction and happiness come from. We each have found the Perfect Source that fills all our deep longings for happiness. His name is Jesus. He is the fountain that never runs dry. He is the well that never goes empty.
There are times when Napoleon and I forget to drink from our Source, and that is when frustrations explode, disappointments overwhelm. After the hurtful words have been spoken, the pain reminds us to return to our Ultimate Source. When we do so, healing flows and then life is restored. Now, we can give to each other because we have been filled.
I am reminded of the verse in Isaiah 54 that declares,
"For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth."
Do not make your husband out to be God. He can never perfectly love you, but there is One who can. He can never perfectly make you happy, but there is One who can.
His name is Jesus. And when you call, He will answer.
And He definitely satisfies.
