The Impact of a Life Partner: Lessons from 34 Years Together

Today happens to be my anniversary and my wife and I have been married for 34 years. To some that is a very long time. To others who have been married longer than we have, we are on the road to another point in our lives.

God brings people into your life for many reasons. Some come into your life as a friend, others are just acquaintances. Then there are others like my wife who has stood by me and encouraged me through college and my career as a Medical Technologist. Even though that career was shorter than I had hoped it would be, God had another plan which took me in a different direction which brought me to a computer repair shop and I served for a time as a pastor at a small church. A life partner, whether it is your spouse or God, can encourage you and inspire you in many ways. Your life will change when your life partner comes into your life and it will never be the same after that.

Some say that the change could be good or bad, but I believe that anyone who is your partner in life, whether it is God or your spouse, the change will usually be good. I say usually because we sometimes choose to follow the wrong partner or find the wrong one by not listening to God and His guidance in our lives. So, in essence, I am saying that you should seek to know God as your life partner first and foremost, then you will have His help in finding a spouse (if He has planned that for you).

We live in such a mixed up and crazy world today until it is hard to think about finding a life partner because it seems that the world may not last long enough for us to want one around. With all that is happening in the news around the world, if we had gotten married less than five years ago, children would not have been an option for one. i’m not sure anyone could honestly say that they are confident about having a child and watching them grow up in today’s world. Some people have children for other reasons and the possibility of that child having a future is not a part of their thinking.

God forms the child in the womb and He had a purpose for many of us before we were even thought of. Give your heart to Jesus and trust Him as your Savior before you move into another relationship that could be life-altering. He will give you the knowledge and wisdom to make the choices that will be beneficial to both of you, especially if you allow Him to find the right person for you.

Winding mountain road with sun rays shining through dark clouds — Sun rays illuminate a winding mountain road beneath dramatic clouds

What is God’s will for me?

Unless your pastor or your parents tell you where you can truly find out His will is for you, it can take a long time to find it. Being a Christian is not a simple decision with a easy pathway. God gave us a way to find His will but most people will miss it. It takes study and prayer through the Word of God to learn what your place is in His Kingdom. That is where you will find His will for your life. Every day thank God for allowing you to be alive for one more day, study His Word, praying about the scripture you are reading then use the scripture that day. Then do this again tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Learning more about the God Who loves you will bless you in ways that you cannot imagine.

God’s will for each of us is different but studying God’s Word is the best way to find His will for you and your life. Some people in the church never find out what His will is for their lives because they read the passage that the preacher is talking about and that is as far as their reading of God’s Word goes. You will never know God’s voice listening to a few verses on Sunday and His will for your life is not contained in a couple of verses either. The Bible is written as a living document from God so it needs to be read as if you and God are having a conversation about lots of different topics.

God loves and cares for every person on the Earth but He knows that many will not accept Jesus as their Savior. Only those that He calls and who choose to follow Jesus will know Him and be known by Him. Is this fair? Yes it is because it is the same for everyone! God doesn’t choose us by our name or how much money we have or by our ability to speak to a crowd. He chooses each of us because He knows that each of us can touch someone’s life in a way that may get them to seek out their Savior, Jesus.

Our lives and the lives of many people, in fact all people, are orchestrated and guided by God. We think that we are in control but God can move each of us around so that our life and His plan for our life will line up and match exactly the way He wants it to. Your will and God’s will are only the same when you are searching the Scriptures for your destiny, seeking Him as your Savior and living by what God says in it. Make sure that your life and His will for it line up at some point before your life is over.

Finding God’s will for your life

I used to wonder exactly how I was supposed to find this out. Was God going to tell me or was I going to have to figure it out on my own? It has taken the better part of a decade of Bible study and I’m still not at the point of pointing to a passage or a dream where He told me “This is my will for you”. Our problem lies with our own stubborn nature. It isn’t just my problem, it is every Christian’s problem. We think that we have it figured out but we really don’t and unless you read God’s Word and listen to what He says in it, you will miss it entirely.

God’s will for each of us is different. Some of us are called to be teachers and some are called to be preachers or evangelists. Some of us are called to be prayer warriors for those who need God’s touch in their lives in whatever way He will provide for them. Some of us are to be healers by the way we serve others and some are encouragers to those in the ministry or the church who need that. It takes prayer and being receptive to the Holy Spirit’s words in your Spirit to hear and truly listen with your Spiritual ears in order to find out your calling, your path which God has for you to follow.

Some people pick up on this fairly early in their walk with Jesus and sometimes it takes a long time before their ears (Spiritual) can hear clearly enough to catch what He is saying. Many times it takes a good bit of Bible study and prayerful reading of God’s Word in order to learn His voice well enough to know when He is speaking to you. Unfortunately, many people in our churches today only open their Bible’s on Sunday and they leave it closed for the rest of the week. You can’t learn about God’s voice or His Wisdom by doing that, but a lot of people seem to be “reading” God’s Word along with the pastor and very little at any other time.

This is not a “how-to” article for finding God’s Will for your life but reading God’s Word is the best way to know His voice and to learn what He has said about His Will in the past. God doesn’t change and His will for us is the same as it was for His disciples and prophets in the past. Go and tell others about My plans for their salvation through Jesus. If they don’t know Jesus, then tell them. If they have walked away from the church then encourage them to come back and hear what God wants for them today! Young people need to hear this message more than any other because there are so many other messages which are being taught and put in their faces today on the Internet and on TV. They need to know which message is the Truth and it is God’s Truth!