Marriage Devotional: When You Fall, Who Lifts You?

For the season when marriage feels like a long fall and help seems far.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone? If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12

Two are better than one—but better for what? When you fall, who is near enough to lift you, and have you let them see the fall before you have rehearsed the rising?

You have made a virtue of not needing anyone. The false refuge is self-sufficiency: you keep your collapse tidy, your need invisible, and your spouse stands at a distance, unneeded. But the verse does not say the strong never fall; it says woe to the one who falls alone.

Before you reached for help, Christ was already reaching. The third strand is not your grip; it is Christ, who was raised and now intercedes. He was lifted from the grave by the Father's power, and He lives to hold the cord when your hands tremble. Will you let your spouse see the fall before you have rehearsed the rising?

The third strand is not your grip; it is Christ, who was raised and now intercedes.

Prayer

Father, give us the humility to reach for the hand You have placed beside us.