Better Than Wine

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. -Song of Songs 1:2

Celebrating a quarter-century of marriage puts one in a meditative state. Makes me think of God's sovereign control over all things.

Do you think that odd? I admit I do, after a fashion. I mean I should be thinking of my beloved and what a joy and a blessing she's been to me for twenty-five years.

This is true. I'd hate to think of what those years would have been like without her. I know what my life was like before her.

All of which is , I suppose, what got me thinking along the lines of what a near-run thing it has been, at times.

Which in turn reminded me of (and made me grateful for) God's sovereign rule over all He has made. He turns the heart "wherever He wishes (Proverbs 21:1b)."

Do you know how many years I played the nightclubs and how many marriages I've seen end in ruins that began there? Yet this is where God in His mercy arranged for me to meet Ms. Joycie for the first time. Why would He do that? Because that's where I was.

So a heart that had hardened toward the female race in general and against the notion of marriage (again) in particular began to be changed. I never desired that change.

Many times over the years, I fought the change and it appeared as if the whole thing would end in tears. Only God saw the reality of the situation and the outcome of His plan.

I thought about that today also. Some pretty lean times around here lately make a person wonder what end God has in mind. We haven't reached the point of revealing just yet.

Anniversaries are good times to remember how this love for each other and the love of God has sustained us and what joy we have been blessed with much of the time.

Time to remember we're not in this alone.

And it's not over yet.