This past week Tracy and the kids left to go visit relatives in north Georgia for the weekend and, since I had to stay and do some work, I couldn’t go with them. As she was leaving she noticed the sadness in my face and after making sure I knew the where the “essentials” were, she told me, “don’t worry. You’ll be ok. Gosh, I wish I could have a day by myself.”
After they drove out of the garage, the dog and I turned around and headed back inside. As I was getting ready to go about my own business, the thought of “I wish I could have a day by myself” started to sink in. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the problem wasn’t that all of a sudden I found myself alone, but that she was not with me.
In case if you haven’t caught it, whenever I’m with my wife I find myself. It isn’t necessarily a matter of being together all-of-the-time, but somehow whenever I know she’s around my life just falls in order. It’s more than a routine and a mere motion; it’s a rhythm and a dance.
Our relationship sheds so much light on the passage in Ephesians 5 where the apostle Paul writes, “‘for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself…”
The mystery of being “one flesh” takes life in our marriage in a weird shape. Under normal circumstances being alone would result in being more productive. However since we are “one flesh” the problem isn’t being alone but being without your best you. In other words, without my wife I’m less of myself.
This earthly relationship is just a pale print of a more wonderful and mysterious union – our relationship with Christ.
Let us grow in our relationship with Christ where the more we are with Him, the more complete and whole we become.
