The Blessing of a Wife
Proverbs 18:22 (ESV) “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.”
Today marks 23 years I have been married to my wife April. I have been doing a lot of thinking...
There are some blessings in life that we don't fully appreciate until we've walked through some difficult seasons. For me, one of those blessings is my wife April. Marriage is easy to celebrate when everything is going well. When the bills are paid, the kids are behaving, everyone is healthy, and life seems to be moving in the right direction. But I've learned that the true beauty of marriage often reveals itself when life gets hard. When the unexpected happens. When the plans change. When the weight of life becomes heavier than you ever imagined. It's in those moments that you begin to understand just how good a gift God has given you.
Proverbs 18:22 reminds us that finding a wife is more than finding someone to share a home with. It's finding someone to share a life with. Someone who walks beside you through the victories and the valleys, the laughter and the tears, the answered prayers and the seasons of waiting. A good marriage isn't built on having a perfect life. It's built on two imperfect people choosing to remain faithful to God and to one another. And that choice isn't always easy.There are disagreements. There are disappointments. There are seasons when you're both exhausted and neither one has much left to give. Marriage requires patience, forgiveness, humility, sacrifice, and a whole lot of grace. But that's part of what makes it beautiful.
God never designed marriage to be simply about our happiness. He also uses it to shape our character, deepen our faith, and teach us what it means to love sacrificially. Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” That's a powerful responsibility. As husbands, we're not simply called to appreciate our wives when they make our lives easier. We're called to love them as Christ loves us. To serve them, honor them, protect their hearts, and remain faithful even when life is difficult. Sometimes I think we husbands can become so focused on everything we're trying to accomplish that we overlook the blessing standing right beside us. We get busy building careers, raising children, paying bills, serving in ministry, and trying to keep everything together. And somewhere in the middle of all that responsibility, we forget to slow down and recognize the person who has been walking through it all with us. The one who has prayed with us. Encouraged us. Challenged us. Forgiven us. And continued choosing us through every season.
Don't become so familiar with your blessing that you forget to be thankful for it. One of the things I've come to understand is that marriage isn't measured by how many good days you experience together. It's measured by the faithfulness you demonstrate through all the days God gives you. The easy ones and the hard ones. The days filled with laughter and the days filled with tears. The seasons of abundance and the seasons when you're simply trusting God to provide. And through it all, you discover that the greatest blessing isn't necessarily what you have accumulated together, but the relationship God has allowed you to build.
Proverbs doesn't say that finding a wife means you'll never experience hardship. It says you've found something good and obtained favor from the Lord. That's an important distinction. God's favor doesn't mean life will always be easy. Sometimes His favor is revealed through the person He has placed beside you when life is anything but easy. So husbands, don't wait for an anniversary, birthday, or special occasion to tell your wife how much she means to you. Thank her. Pray for her. Encourage her. Listen to her. Keep pursuing her. And never stop thanking God for the gift of marriage.
Because at the end of the day, a good wife isn't simply someone you were blessed to find. She's someone you should never stop thanking God for. He who finds a wife finds a good thing. And sometimes the best way to honor that blessing is to make sure she knows that, after everything life has brought your way, you'd still choose her all over again.
Lord, thank You for the gift of marriage. Forgive us for the times we've taken our spouses for granted. Teach us to love with patience, serve with humility, and remain faithful through every season. Help us never lose sight of the blessings You've placed right beside us. Amen.