April 16

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Gen. 2: 18.

As a young man I needed to learn much about life. I thought I had the answers in my science and engineering skills. Life was looked upon with analysis but without understanding or love. I didn't know that I needed a helper. Friends were not necessary, I thought to myself. And yet, I was miserable.

This condition finally led to a search for God, or rather, a search by God for me. When I found Christ in July of 1964, it was as if a third person entered my marriage. Christ began to show me another side of life, and that side was invariably the viewpoint of my helper, my wife. She saw a more tender side of life that I had not discovered. Love began to replace the cold analytical way.

That wife died and went to be with our Lord in July of 1993. It was 40 years to the day from the time I had first met her. The Lord needed her, too. Thank you, Lord, for those years she cared for me as my helper.

It doesn't end there. How can I be so blessed by the Lord as to be given a second helper? A man hardly deserves two wonderful marriages? The Lord surely knew what He was doing when He made woman. My second wife continues where the first ended--teaching me another side of life.

We men love to quote those verses about wives being submissive to their husbands. We forget the ones about loving your wives as Christ loved the church. But whether it's submissiveness or love, if it is to be learned it will come from the very nature of Christ. Aren't submitting to one another and love really the same thing? Aren't they both just Christ? A man can discover these things over a lifetime when he has a good helper.

Today, Lord, as I see men and women in this life, am I not seeing expressions of You? Amen.

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