Is every marriage ordained?

Q. Is every marriage ordained?

I understand you to be asking whether we can be confident that if two people are married, this is because God wanted them to be married and arranged their lives and circumstances so that they would get married.

I don’t believe we can necessarily have that confidence in the case of people who make their plans and decisions without regard to God. But I would hope that every marriage between two followers of Jesus Christ is one that the husband and wife each entered into as a matter of obedience to God’s leading. I believe that God shows two such people that they can have a greater influence for his purposes together than they could separately and that he is calling them to enter into both the joys and challenges of marriage for that purpose.

Of course people who get married are excited about each other, very much in love, and eager to be married. So we don’t always think of getting married as a matter of obedience to God. But I believe that must be the foundation. If it is, it will help the couple make it through difficult times and grow together into a deep, rich, happy relationship that is a blessing to them and to those around them.

So I do believe that God “ordains” marriages in the sense of leading two people of faith to recognize that his will for them is to enter into marriage as a life partnership to advance his purposes, and at the same time to experience the many joys of sharing life together.

Author: Christopher R Smith

The Rev. Dr. Christopher R. Smith is an an ordained minister, a writer, and a biblical scholar. He was active in parish and student ministry for twenty-five years. He was a consulting editor to the International Bible Society (now Biblica) for The Books of the Bible, an edition of the New International Version (NIV) that presents the biblical books according to their natural literary outlines, without chapters and verses. His Understanding the Books of the Bible study guide series is keyed to this format. He was also a consultant to Tyndale House for the Immerse Bible, an edition of the New Living Translation (NLT) that similarly presents the Scriptures in their natural literary forms, without chapters and verses or section headings. He has a B.A. from Harvard in English and American Literature and Language, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell, and a Ph.D. in the History of Christian Life and Thought, with a minor concentration in Bible, from Boston College, in the joint program with Andover Newton Theological School. View all posts by Christopher R Smith