A Beautiful Adventure MarriageSample

Get Rid of Your Contingency Plan

Marriage is a beautiful adventure. However, if we are going to go on this adventure and be happy, we have got to get rid of our contingency plan. Turning back or giving up must be completely off the table. If we say we are all in, then it needs to mean that we are indeed all in! Why is this decision so important? 

When you commit to something completely, with no intention of quitting, it forces you to make it work. There is no other option.

In 1 Kings we find Elisha working in a field. He is plowing 12 acres of land and is on his last acre. This was not a hobby for him. This was his livelihood. He was working on a big project and was almost finished when Elijah comes and offers him an adventure of a lifetime. 

What Elisha does next is mind-blowing. Not only does he accept the offer, but he also shows that he is all in by burning the plow and killing the oxen. There is no way this prophet thing can’t work now because Elisha doesn’t have anything to fall back on. Even if he quits and comes back home there is nothing there for him to pick back up. 

He literally throws a farewell BBQ to his old lifestyle and sets off to make this new adventure work. He got rid of his contingency plan. He was going to be a prophet and that is exactly what happened. Not only did he become a prophet, but he also performed double the miracles that Elijah, his mentor, performed. I believe his success as a prophet can be traced back to the “all-in” decision he made.

We need to have this same “all-in” moment with our marriages. According to Google, roughly 50% of marriages end in divorce. That is a staggering number. 

So how do we help this percentage to go down? We don’t get divorced! We need to burn the plow of divorce and move forward knowing this is our only option. There is something very freeing in making the decision to be all in. When you decide divorce is completely off the table, it takes the stress off your marriage. 

You can focus only on making it work.

Pray then Act

Are you ready to get rid of your contingency plan? Are you ready to go all in? 

Adventure Awaits! Let’s Go!

Prayer

Father, help us to commit fully to our marriage. Divorce is no longer an option for us. We want to go all in! You have joined us together, and we are excited about the beautiful adventure in front of us!

Action

Take the word “divorce” completely out of your vocabulary.