by Laurie Crouch
“. . . a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” — Ecclesiastes 4:12
The scratched and faded photo above brings back a lot of wonderful memories for me. A little over thirty years ago on that day, August 25, 1985, Matt and I gathered with family, friends, and lots of well-wishers at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, and promised our love and commitment to each other for a lifetime.
Once in a while I like to pull out our wedding album and think back on that day that changed our lives forever. I remember the awe-inspiring grandeur of the sanctuary, all gloriously arrayed in celebration of our special moment.
I also remember the chaos surrounding the event. Just a day before the wedding Mom and Dad Crouch invited “everybody” to attend, so the sanctuary was packed with over 5,000 wonderful people who came to witness our wedding. (To this day Matt and I run into people we don’t even know who tell us, “I was at your wedding.”)
Our good friend Andraé Crouch was on hand with some wonderful music, including a song he penned especially for us — while riding in a car on his way to the wedding!
I’ll never forget my precious father as he released his little girl to the man of her dreams. Or the tears on my mother’s face as she watched the daughter she raised and mentored take her own place as a young bride. And my heart is still warmed by the smiles from the many individuals and families who played a role in Matt’s and my life who were present to witness our joy.
I can recall even now the feeling of indescribable joy I had as the Crystal Cathedral’s majestic pipe organ thundered out the recessional and we walked hand-in-hand from the sanctuary as Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Crouch.
The gaze we have for each other in this photo says it all: two young people deeply in love, with hearts full of enough hopes and dreams to fill a lifetime and more.
Of course, as with every newly married couple, there were many things we didn’t know about as we began our journey that day: the mountains and valleys we would face, the victories, the disappointments, the uncertainties, along with the great joys — the most important being the two wonderful sons God blessed us with to make our family complete.
However, there was one thing we were absolutely certain of as we began our life’s journey that day. We knew without a doubt that our hopes for a rich, fulfilling, and lasting marriage were based on having Jesus at the center of it all. We knew that it was important for His Lordship to cover, sanctify, and direct our relationship.
Yes, both Matt and I had given our hearts to Jesus at a young age, and Jesus was Lord of our individual lives. But we understood that He also had to be at the center of our marriage and home. We needed His divine strength every day to cover our weaknesses. With that strength at the foundation of our future, we knew that our lives would be blessed and fruitful.
The writer of Ecclesiastes puts it this way: “Two are better than one … Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 12).
Right from the beginning Matt and I invited Christ to be the third strand in the three-fold cord of our lives — the One who would sustain and guide us in all that we faced. And over thirty years later, we can testify that through every season and circumstance, Jesus has never failed us. In our weakness He is strong. In the obstacles we face — the stresses, uncertainties, battles, and assaults that come against every marriage — Jesus has remained faithful and true.
It’s no secret that Satan, the enemy of all God has created, has waged all-out war on marriage. Dysfunction and divorce are common themes among couples today — even among God’s own children. And I believe it’s because far too many men and women dive into this sacred institution without truly making Jesus Lord of their homes. Couples who rely only on themselves and their own strength to face the battles that are certain to come are like a cord with only two strands. At some point along the way they can expect the stresses of life to bring them to a breaking point. But with the addition of that Third Strand — Jesus — the cord of their relationship gains a strength that makes it unbreakable.
Whether you are one half of a newly married couple, a seasoned marriage “pro” like Matt and me, or are praying and preparing for that day when you’ll walk down the aisle and say “I do” with your one and only, I want to invite you to make Jesus the Lord of your now or future relationship. And then do the same thing every day for the rest of your life. I assure you, making Jesus the strength of your marriage — and your life — is worth it!