God revealed this all to me several years ago. I am sharing it to the public today because I think it could help someone out there.
Steph


Marriage is like the game of life. The people who created the Milton and Bradley game of life first had to have a plan. Then they had to construct some rules to make the game go smoothly. The rules are there so that when the game gets confusing for one of the players and there is a disagreement one can refer back to the rules. The game also list the number of players that may play the game at the same time. Then the game provides you with all the pieces one needs to play the game.

God created marriage in much of the same way. God provides us with the pieces to play the game like the love and friendship of another person of the opposite sex. Then God gives us the rules we need to follow to make the game go smoothly. There can only be two players. Marriage doesn't work with an outside player. You and your partner can only play the game with each other. God states the rules that the man is the head of the household. That means in order to receive the blessings God has given us we must play by the rules of the game or we don't get to pass go and collect our two hundred dollars. The man has to be the head. The man also has other rules he has to follow. He has to be a Godly man a man who seeks God before he makes his decisions. The wife is to be his helpmate. Her purpose is to see what the man needs and help make sure he gets it. This in turn will make the man happy and again you will reap the blessings of it. However, if we don't include the creator of the game in the game by following his rules the game simply does not work!

Now some where in life someone is going to see you playing your game and like the kid who didn't get chosen to play kick ball at recess this person is going to become resentful of you and the good time you are having playing your game. This person is Satan. Satan will try to destroy all that God has created. He will do anything he can to disrupt the game. During these times you need to refer back to the rules of the game. Satan wants the game to end because if you make the game look like to much fun or look like it goes smoothly when playing then others may want to start their own games and once again Satan will be ignored by even more people. So Satan devises plans to get us to turn on our game partners. He whispers in our ears they are cheating, you should just quit playing no one want to play with a cheater. Or they are playing unfairly if they can't treat you fairly you should just walk away from the game altogether. Or they are boring do you really want to keep laying this game with this person and die of boredom? Or he is doing better and gaining more then you are at this game you could do better playing another game with someone else. So we hear these lies and unfortunately instead of referring back to our rulebook a lot of us start to believe the lies that Satan has whispered in our heads. We start to become suspicious of our partners we forget that we both have all the same pieces we both own the game we are playing and received this game from our Father so that we could enjoy it and have fun. Satan takes the gift the Father has given us and uses it against us. He uses it for his benefit as he whispers the doubts and suspicions into our ears. We begin to look around at other people playing the same game and they look like they are having fun and Satan whispers they are having more fun perhaps their game partner is more fun and maybe you could have more fun with someone else. What we don't realize is the couple that is having so much fun is playing the exact same game we are they just haven't lost sight of the rules. They are playing the game like the creator of the game intended it to be played. This is why they are so happy they have heard the whispers of Satan but instead of pausing to consider a lie they referred to the rules and realized that one of the rules was to block out the voices of the ruler of the world and follow the ruler of all creation.

Satan uses the smallest form of doubt to create a pathway for him to squeeze his way into our hearts and into our marriages. Any part of our body he finds isn't covered with the full armor of God he begins to attack. He makes a stab here and a punch there until part of you begins to feel bruised and weak. We start to feel hurt and worn down. And it's in this moment that Satan begins to smile because he is breaking down a barrier and finding a pathway through. He knows if he can effect your thoughts he can eventually get through to your heart. The rules say: "Guard your heart it is the wellspring of life" If we'd read the rules we wouldn't have a had a hole in our armor. When the Devil hit us his hand would have gotten bruised instead of our heart. And maybe, just maybe he would've moved on to someone with not quite as much armor on that he could hurt.

This brings me to another point. Since as married couples we really are all playing the same game of life. When your game is going good and you look around and see other playing the same game but they have included to many players and perhaps allowed Satan to join their game then it's your job to refer them back to the rules. It's your job to report them to the creator and tell him to remind them how the game is played.

Satan will attack any part of our marriage that we will allow him to attack. Marriage is a sacred sacrament created by God for those in love with God. It was created as a gift from our Father. If after getting married our earthly father presented us with a brand new house we wouldn't just let someone come in who was an enemy of our father and start destroying the house we would protect it. We would build it up and take care of it to make our father even more proud to say I gave this to my children. We wouldn't allow someone to come in and spray graffiti all on the outside of our home. Or if they did spray it with graffiti we wouldn't leave it there. We would be out repainting the house working to make it what is was in the beginning or perhaps better than before. We have a gift from our Heavenly Father a gift called marriage. Yes, the gift does take maintenance and sometimes it is not easy to keep up but the things it provides when it's taken care of and nurtured is well worth the rewards. When our home and our marriage is taken care of it's our place of refuge. It's our place of peace from the outside world. It's where we go to weather the storms of life. It's where we go to find rest, food, and comfort from the world.

So when you are in your home playing the game of marriage be sure to follow the rules. Be sure to refer to what the creator of the game says on a daily basis. Remember to take care of your home if you don't you won't have a place to play your game. Last but not least receive your Father's gift with a thankful heart doing all you can to maintain His gift and make Him proud.