It is my experience that most men don’t just sit around thinking, “How can I make my marriage better?” I mean we have other things think about. If you were to ask a husband what he thinks about most, you’d probably hear something like, “the deadline coming up at work,” or, “will there be enough to pay the bills this month,” or, “what’s the stock market doing today,” or, “it’s 3rd down and 14 yards to go!” Even when a marriage might be struggling or on the brink of disaster, you just won’t find a man staring out the window, dreaming about having the perfect marriage. Most guys just don’t think like that. But men we have to! I am writing this message to all the husbands out there. There is a crisis going on right now. American families are being ripped apart while we sit back and watch. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming men. I blame the devil. He is the destroyer. But husbands, we can stop his advance. With the help of the Lord, we can be the catalyst to turn things around. We can be the cement and glue that keeps our families together. As kings of our homes, we have action to take. We cannot have peace within us as long as the enemy is at work.
Look in the Bible at 2 Kings 9. God had just spoken through Elisha and told one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu as king over Israel. When Jehu realized the call that God had for him, like the call that God has for us husbands, he wasted no time rising to the call. The Bible says he went at the enemy, driving furiously! And when king Joram came out and met him and asked Jehu if he came in peace look at what Jehu said in verse 22.
22 Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” So he answered, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?”
In our modern English, Jehu basically said, “Peace? There can’t be any peace as long as the devils work is going on!” And he went on an offensive that defeated the enemy king Joram and he took his place as king over the house of Israel.
So right about now you might be wondering how you can go on an offensive against an enemy you can’t see. Well what can we learn from Jehu? Here are some thoughts for you to consider.
Look back at verse 11.
11 Then Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?”
And he said to them, “You know the man and his babble.”
Jehu just got anointed as king of Israel. The prophet’s son who anointed him said, “Thus says the Lord” and everything! But what was Jehu’s first response? “Oh, you know that man and his babble.” Jehu was in denial. At first, he didn’t accept the fact that he was to be the king. Now men, here is where I see many husbands falling short today. They are not stepping up and accepting the fact that they are to be the head. And here is where I see a big opportunity for a first step in that offensive.
Look at Ephesians 5:23
23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
Decide that you are going to be the man that God has called you to be; the man that is the head of his marriage and his family; the guide and guard and governor of his home. I am not talking about this in a domination sense but as a leader like a king. Accept the responsibility. Go to battle for your wife. Be the peacemaker in your relationship. Pray for her. Provide for her needs. Protect her. Romance her. Sacrifice for her. I wonder if you are like me. That is NOT exactly the thing that I wanted to hear when looking for instructions on how to have a strong marriage. But it is the truth. We get to live to a higher standard that our wives. In the perfect marriage of Christ and the church, we see the example before us. And we husbands are compared, in position, to Christ. We have the position of the head of the household. We are to live the live of total sacrifice. Husbands, it is time we stopped ignoring the call that God has on our lives. Its time to MAN UP!
