My wife went out of town for a few days last week. She visited her parents in Illinois. I don’t mind being by myself for a short time. There’s always plenty I can do around the house. I can find what I need to eat. But a few days is enough. When she came back home I was certainly ready for her to be back. It was a very good reminder for me of one of the many reasons God created marriage.

The wedding service that I have, as a pastor, used dozens of times says this about marriage:

The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy, for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity…

I love those three words “help and comfort.” That help and comfort is to be given by husband and wife “in prosperity and adversity.” And that’s one very good reason why God created marriage.

What I noticed when Tammy was gone was that there were certain things I had to do which I’m not used to doing. She does them. For instance, she charged me with watering her newly planted flowers every day. I doubt I’d even plant flowers if I lived by myself. I just don’t enjoy doing yard work and would rather spend my time doing other things.

But I enjoy seeing those flowers when I drive up to our house. So I dutifully watered them. I didn’t want her to come home to dead flowers, especially after she nicely asked me to water them. She also keeps the house more nicely than I ever would. I don’t have the decorating touch that she does. And she washes the dishes when I do the cooking.

I would categorize all that stuff under “help and comfort.” I would hope that when I go away for a period of time, Tammy would miss the things that I typically do around the house. I hope I provide the “help and comfort” that she needs, as well.

Don’t we all need “help and comfort”? Life is often hard. For those of us who are married it’s so very nice to receive consistent help and comfort. And it’s also a reminder to us that we ought to provide “help and comfort” for those who don’t get it quite as consistently: those who are single, or widowed, or divorced.

Thank God for the gift of marriage. And for all those who provide for us any kind of help and comfort when we need it.

From where do you receive help and comfort when you need it?