The Cause Is The Cure

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” (Ps 127:2 AV)

 

The context of this verse is building.  Building a home and a family.  The worrisome believer spends sleepless nights and overworked days because he is concerned for the future of those for whom he is responsible.  The verses following verse two speak of the blessings of a wife and children.  The very source of this man’s late nights, early mornings, and sorrow to boot are the exact resources God gives that he might sleep well.  A family is not given as a curse.  It is given that they might be a blessing to his heart.  God did not give us a spouse and children so that they may rob us of health and well-being.  God gave these people that they might do just the opposite.  I know it may not seem that way from time to time, but it is so.  Family is a burden.  They always will be.  However, the family should be more of a blessing than they are a burden.

The following is from www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/the-health-benefits-of-marriag, /and written by Glenn T. Stanton, Oct 8, 2012…

“The health benefits are so significant; in fact, one sociologist described them as being as “large as the benefit from giving up smoking.” Chris M. Wilson and Andrew J. Oswald, “How Does Marriage Affect Physical and Psychological Health? A Survey of the Longitudinal Evidence,” Institute for Study of Labor Study Paper 1619 (Bon, Germany: Institute for the Story of Labor, May 2005), 16.  The current body of research consistently finds married men and women are:

·       More likely to live longer

·       More likely to be physically healthier

·       More likely to be mentally healthier

·       More likely to be happier

·       Recover from illness quicker and more successfully

·       Generally, take better care of themselves and avoid risky behavior” 

On the benefits of fatherhood, Another source (https://www.vaulthealth.com/blog/articles/the-unexpected-health-benefits-of-fatherhood, The Vault Team, June 2021) said this…

“Better Psychological Well-Being

Being an active and engaged father can also have positive effects on a dad’s mental health. One long-term study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health found that fathers in positive family relationships suffered less stress-related health issues.

Another study published in the Journal of Family Issues found that men who were highly invested in their role as a father had lower levels of depression, even when they didn't live in the same house as their children—suggesting that parental engagement is more important than proximity.”

In other words, secular science seems to agree that being married and having a family is more healthy for the individual than single life.  The research agrees, and rightly so, with the Bible.  Regardless of how we might feel at the moment, family is one of God’s remedies for a healthier and happier life.  This is precisely why the writer tells us it is vain to go without sleep and worry ourselves sick over the house or goals we are trying to accomplish.  Putting it another way, we can become so goal or results-oriented we forget the blessings that family is to us.  They are there to laugh with.  They are there to cry with.  They are there to make us proud.  They are there to support us when we are down.  They are there for us as much as we are there for them.  Life is rough.  But it would be a whole lot rougher if it wasn’t for a loving and supporting spouse and the children God has allowed you to raise together.