Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

PARTNER POWER God formed families to give people closeness. The deepest hurt man can know is to have no one to love and no one who cares. An experienced social worker says, "I have come to realize that it is being unwanted that is the worst disease that any human being can ever experience. For all kinds of diseases there are medicines and cures, but for being unwanted. . . I don't think this terrible disease can ever be cured." We who know Christ realize that He can provide warmth and friendship. Still, we need human companionship. Thus, an important purpose of the family is to provide human warmth, touch, and friendship. In that closeness, we develop strength. There is great power in partnership. God gave us each other to strengthen one another. Husbands look at life with a different perspective than do wives. Wives see things that husbands overlook. The way Abigail was able to cool David's anger is an excellent illustration of the way men and women complement each other (1 Samuel 25). The wise husband listens to his wife, and the wise wife hears her husband. Even the cynical writer of Ecclesiastes recognizes the power of partnership. He says: There is one alone, without companion: He has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labors, Nor is his eye satisfied with riches (Ecclesiastes 4:8).