When Micheal Jordan quit basketball (the first time) in 1994 to try his hand at Major League Baseball he was the talk of every sports writer in the country. He was considered by many to be the “greatest basketball player who ever lived” (an opinion I happen to agree with). And yet when the Chicago White Sox signed him and sent him to their Minor League farm team (Birmingham Barons) Micheal struggled.
It was apparent that Micheal Jordan could not hit the curveball… (at least he could not do it very often). He was great with fastballs because he had quick hands…but there was something about the curveball that got him. It turns out that the pitchers throwing pitches that “broke more severely” than anything he had seen before. Even when he knew it was coming he had trouble “making contact”.
He lasted from February 7, 1994 March 10, 1995 (13 months and three days)
Sadly many marriages last about that long… simply because they “can’t hit the curveball”.
Marriage is full of “curveballs”
- Your husband does not know how to lead you like you like to be led
- Mother in law who pulls you into loyalty battles etc…
- Loss of job and complete change in career
- Babies on the way that were not planned
- Finding out your spouse secret sin that almost ruins marriage.
- Parents dying
- Sickness
- Financial trouble
- Pain and heart ache that were unexpected.
THE POINT : We often go to the “marriage verses” in scripture to help us during these time but I would argue that Genesis 2/Ephesians 5/I Corinthians 13 do not “get you through” when your marriage is really struggling…. before you stone me for heresy..my point is that there is NO SUCH THING as MARRIAGE VERSES because EVERY VERSE in Scripture is a “marriage verse”. 1Cor 10:13 is a marriage verse, so is John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 John 1:9, Deuteronomy 11:1, 2 Timothy 2:3 “Suffer hardships with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” is a marriage verse! (no kidding!) Psalm 31:6 and so on.
The only way we are going to “hit the curveballs” that come our way in marriage is to cling to ALL OF SCRIPTURE and not just the “Marriage Verses”
I N T E N T I O N A L Marriage 
Kathy Drake
February 23, 2011 at 6:48 am
Great word!!
Todd
February 23, 2011 at 8:09 am
God’s ways are way different than our own most of the time. I believe His understanding and principles behind His thoughts/ways/word are so intertwined they are beyond our comprehension as to their depth. As such each verse of scripture substantiates and validates every other verse of scripture. Every verse is a marriage verse.