One Flesh

So this could go in so many directions, but as I read through Genesis 2 several times all I could focus on was the beauty of man and woman.  How the connection between a man and a woman was meant to be strong from the very beginning.  That woman is truly from man and that man should eventually leave his mother and father and become one with woman.  What a connection---a connection that was God’s plan from the beginning.  So why is the divorce rate in the United States at an all time high?  In fact I actually looked up some statistics on divorce rates and I was more than shocked.  I am sure you have heard the phrase “50% of all marriages end in divorce” and while that is not exact, it is pretty close.  The fact is 50% of first marriages, 67% of second marriages, and 74% of third marriages all end in divorce, while the people between the ages of 20-24 have the highest rate of divorce.  All this is according to http://www.divorcerate.org/.  When I looked at the worldwide divorce rate I was even more shocked.  With the average divorce rate being 49% for the US, we were ranked 12^th in the top twenty countries with the highest divorce rate---yes you heard me right---there are 11 other countries with an even higher divorce rate than the US.  How sad and disappointing is that.  So what is the problem?  Why is something so ordained by God falling apart?  I believe the answer to this problem goes to the very root of each of us---selfishness.  The top 3 reasons for divorce are money, infidelity, and lack of communication---all of these involve some form of selfishness.  We are more concerned about how much money is in our accounts than how much love we are showing our spouse.  Instead of finding solutions to problems with our spouse we just look for someone new.  Instead of trying to talk things out we just don’t talk.  It saddens me deeply to think about all this, but then it also makes me realize how blessed I am to have such a wonderful marriage to such a great man of God.  To be raised by both parents in the same house is even more of a blessing than I have ever realized. 

Even knowing all this I look back at the words in Genesis 2 and continue to see the beauty of the creation of man and woman.  God created man in his own image and then he uses a part of man to create woman---he knew that we would be lonely without a partner---he knew we would need someone to love---he knew we would need someone to lean on during difficult times---he knew and still knows what we need.  I have often wondered if there were any truth to finding a ‘soul mate’---having that one person that makes you whole, but I can say now I do.  Just look at Genesis 2:25…Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Webster’s defines cleave as ‘to adhere unwaveringly’---how powerful is that? And to not only have a partner, but to become one flesh---even more powerful!  So to me that means: when my spouse hurts, I hurt, when my spouse is happy, I am happy---we are one and when we are one there is no room for selfishness.  However, none of this will work as planned until God is put first---until God is at the center of it all---until the will God and the concern for another is put first.  God created man and woman out of love and there is no doubt that it is designed to work with that same love!