Whew! I was really afraid the more obedient I became, God was going to ask me to do harder and harder things for him, to give up more fun things that I wanted.
It was a tremendous relief to me during an Alpha USA class last year to hear Nicky Gumbel say, “God is not going to ask you to marry someone to whom you are not physically attracted.”
Nicky was talking about how God guides us in big decisions, but we need to mix in some prayerful common sense, too.
For example, God’s word in the Bible tells us marriage is the norm, but doesn’t tell us who to marry!
Based upon God’s word and our common sense, Nicky suggests that these questions are a good place to start on the decision of who to marry:
1. Are we spiritually compatible?
Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians 6:14 that we should not be unequally yoked to unbelievers because it is impossible under such an arrangement for things to be done to God’s glory. Nicky says, “inevitably we’d be going in different directions spiritually and that can cause tension. If we are a Christian, we should look to marry someone whose faith we respect.”
2. Are we personally compatible? Are we good friends? Then are we physically compatible? Does the chemistry work?
This is the part that isn’t in the Bible; answers to these questions will take some prayerful common sense.
It was a great lesson for me. All the answers to life’s big decisions are found in God’s word, first. Then we can use some prayerful day-to-day common sense to fill in the details.
Blessings, my friend,
Agatha