Our Best Half

“But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.” (Jud 13:23 AV)

Manoah had this fear that God was going to kill both he and his wife.  The fact one sees God at any time results is death was an established belief by the time Manoah and his wife had the visitation from the angel of the LORD.  Knowing the Bible as he did and seeing the miracle of this visitation, Manoah concluded the end draweth nigh.  But it was the level-headed faith of his wife that brought Manoah back from the edge of neurosis.  His fear, if not for the fact the visitation was for events of the future, might have been well founded.  It took the common-sense faith of his wife to see things as they were and point out the obvious so that Manoah could have the same faith she had.  God knew what He was doing by visiting Manoah’s wife first.  Praise the LORD for our wives!

Is it sufficient to say, “been there, done that?” Thank God for the wife of whom He has blessed me with.  There were a few times, like Manoah, my thinking got the better of me.  Thinking I had solid scriptural reasons to think as I was thinking, in her awesome wisdom, she pointed out things of which my complicated system of theology missed.  Leave it to our wives to bring us back to earth.  And then, what becomes embarrassing, is that we missed the obvious to begin with.  In my years of marriage and as a pastor, I am always moved with how strong our wives can be, and need to be, at times of our weakness.  It is often spoken of in jest that this fact is why men could never be the vessel for birth of a child.  It takes a stronger person than we!

Peter correctly puts marriage in proper perspective and with a beautiful truth when he states, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” (1Pe 3:7 AV)  Trying to expound on the above phrase is impossible, for it cannot be stated any better.  We are heirs together.  Not just joint-heirs of life.  But joint-heirs of the grace of life.  To think for a moment that we could survive without our wives is a gross lack of truth.  We cannot.  We need them.  Just as much, if not more, than they need us.