God's Man | Being a Good Husband...

I have been trying to understand what this means.  Over the last few weeks I have been struggling with the roles in my life.  Have any of your folks experienced this?  Sometimes, it seems, that my roles directly clash with on another.  Where does the role of father end and husband begin?  Where do my needs come into play?  How do I find time for everything I need to do?  How do I love when I am hurt, angry or frustrated?
 
Whenever I get frustrated I look into the book of Ecclesiastes.  There I find rest for my my busy mind.  Something about this book always grounds me.  Here is what it says in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, verses 1-15 from the Message Paraphrase:
"There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: 
A right time for birth and another for death, A right time to plant and another to reap, A right time to kill and another to heal,    A right time to destroy and another to construct,    A right time to cry and another to laugh, A right time to lament and another to cheer, A right time to make love and another to abstain, A right time to embrace and another to part, A right time to search and another to count your losses, A right time to hold on and another to let go, A right time to rip out and another to mend, A right time to shut up and another to speak up, A right time to love and another to hate, A right time to wage war and another to make peace. 
 
But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I've had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he's left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he's coming or going. I've decided that there's nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That's it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It's God's gift.
 
I've also concluded that whatever God does, that's the way it's going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God's done it and that's it. That's so we'll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear. 
Whatever was, is. Whatever will be, is. That's how it always is with God."
It is the last part that I want to focus in on. "I've also concluded that whatever God does, that's the way it's going to be, always."  When you couple this passage from Romans Chapter 8: 
"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
 
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun." -verses 26-30
God is working it out with us.  He has the best of intentions for us.  When I look on these two passages I can get past even the deepest hurts.  And sometimes it hurts to be a father.  It hurts to be a husband.  But through it all God is working it out for our good.  That is why I try not to get mixed up thinking about people's motives.  I just need to remind myself that God is working it out for my good.  What would I be without his Grace,  His Love, His Mercy?  How different would my life be if He hadn't stepped in and pulled me out of the muck and mire that I love so much?  I know that without Him I wouldn't even have a wife, whom I love so dearly.  I know that I would still be selfishly devoted to myself.  I would be focused only on gratifying myself.  I am grateful to understand the joy of sacrifice, and the pleasures of giving.  While sometimes I wish that I could get a little more, I understand what Agape love is and I treasure those moments when I can display it.  Remember to continue to love those closest to you.  No matter what the issue, situation or circumstance God has placed them in your life.  And God only does what is Good.  My bride might not be perfect, God knows I'm not, but she is a gift from God to me and that makes her a treasure.
 
-God's Man

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