Exception/No Exception?

Our lives really don't have that many rules...from above.  Mostly we struggle with the man-made ones...the ones made to help institutions and individuals cover their own tails.  The ones well intended but not evaluated well for their impact on others.  The ones that make no sense because they are poorly designed.  On and on and on.

My growing up experience included strict encouragements to 'mind the rules.'

So, I wasted some years before I got my own grip on life and confidence and the matter of choosing more freely my own way.  With a good grounding in the simple, direct, honest directions from our God, life is good on the good side!  And getting those basics down allows a lot of freedom in choices.  

There is one Biblical teaching that even God made an exception for.  And thank goodness for His all-knowing wisdom in doing so!

Choosing divorce is one of the most 'right' and 'courageous' decisions I have ever made.

And I am no less worthy than anyone who is not divorced.

But that isn't always so at church.  The very fact that Sunday school teachers feel a need to 'explain' that before beginning a discussion of divorce is pretty much indicative of the fact that divorce is deemed questionable.  If we would just leave it alone...it's God's gracious gift to those whose life has been overwhelmingly, negatively affected by someone who made a big mistake.  Maybe they were blind-sided.  Perhaps a mate made a very bad choice in changing the direction of their life.  Whatever it was; it led them to betray you with someone else.  Or in today's world maybe they became so engrossed in pornography that they crossed that line that meant they could no longer be a mate to you...they love, cherish, daydream, even take actions with a make-believe partner...more powerful than some real 'other woman or man.'  It happened so strongly in their hearts and heads, either way, that they no longer functioned as a mate.

Historically, the teaching was in response to the 'throw away' wife stuff of ancient times.  A convenience belonging only to men of the day.  

It seems to me that God, having created us in all ways, knew the emotional, spiritual, physical, and psychological equilibrium we would need for survival.  Being a woman, I'm quite sure God must have understood that Christian women with tender consciences would not fare well in the shadow of 'other women.'  And so he set us free.

A little more acceptance of the 'rightness' of following God through this would be nice.  But we often recieve pulpit messages that muddy the Godly Exception.  Leave it alone.

That's something to seriously (as opposed to frivously) celebrate...and in prayerful, humble, "Thank you" prayers.  No relief is quite like the burden lifted of living in a home with 'other' lovers who get in the way.  

I'd say a lot more, but I'd expose myself a bit too much and likely offend someone.

This is an exception I had to choose carefully; carry through; and bear the cost of it.  At the same time, it helps me sleep and carry on.

No exception is better than one God saw was necessary.  And it's as pure and appropriate as a good marriage...I had one of those too.