Today, as I write this article, I am celebrating my anniversary. It was many years ago that I walked down the aisle and said, “I do.” We were both too young and really were not ready for the marriage relationship, but we had a commitment to each other and to God. Like most young couples, we had a lot to learn, and we learned those things together.

When I think back over the many years we have been married, what comes to my mind is how we have endured. We had the normal problems and some of the tragedies some people face. Because of our love for God and for each other, we were able to endure the difficulties we faced.

We struggled through a terrible car accident when my children were 3½ and 1. We lost our home to a fire, and we lost all four of our parents in less than ten years. In the midst of losing our parents, both of our children went off to college, got married, and moved away.

We are blessed because God has always been in our lives. He was there when we married. He was there through all the sorrow of the events that troubled our lives, and He is still right here with us today.

I truly do not know how people survive without Him. I can’t imagine how anyone can miss worshiping God every Sunday. He is at the core of our home and our relationship.

When you read the Bible, you can see that many couples suffered tragedies. Adam and Eve lost a son, murdered by his own brother. King David and Bathsheba lost their son because of their sin. Ahab and Jezebel met tragic fates because they were idol worshipers. Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives because they lied to God.

There are others, but these are just the ones that come to mind. How might their lives have been different had they put God first? No doubt they would have been known for things other than the things we read about them.

Here is the question for you. Where is God in your life? Does He have a prominent place on Sunday and in the background during the week? Is He with you at work, at school, at the grocery store, the laundry, the gas station, or anywhere you might go?

Where does He want to be? He wants to be there with you all day every day no matter where you go or what you do; and the truth is, He is there. He is watching you, He knows everything you do, everywhere you go, everything you think, and He knows what you need. You need Him!

Hagar was one of those women who knew the nature of God. When she ran away from Sarai, an angel found her in the wilderness. He gave her the news that she would have a son and that he would be “a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him” (Genesis 16:12 ESV). Of course, the angel’s words came true.

Hagar’s words expressed what she knew about God. “So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me’” (Genesis 16:13).

In the book of Leviticus, it is recorded what God told the people of Israel. He gave some very specific instructions about what He expected in obedience to Him. He said, “I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:11-12).

 Paul repeated this verse from Leviticus to the Corinthians. Then he said, “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, say the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord” (Second Corinthians 6:17-18).

 Whether we are talking about those living during the Old or New Testament or about us today, God is there; and He wants and insists on our complete obedience. He wants it in worship and in our daily lives.

Just as we made a commitment in our marriage, God expects a commitment to Him. He promises to be there through every trial and heartache. In return, He makes us a promise. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (First Corinthians 10:13).

Sandra Oliver