We’ve also said it.  “I wish I could be in two places at once!”  Often these words come when we are frustrated and busy.  Yet I would like to challenge your thinking a little.  If you are married, I believe that God has given you a way to be in two places at once.  How is this possible?  Do I have your attention?  Are you wondering if I’m going to share with you a new way to clone yourself?

As you know the world can really only handle one of us.  We can only handle one of us.  So if you think that you are God’s answer to mankind and all problems would be solved if you could simply be replicated for each scenario, then you’re probably going to be disappointed with where I’m going with this.

I believe that we can truly be in two places at once.  Not our body, but our character.  And while our character trails behind us and goes before us in all relationships in life, there is no relationship one earth that offers this opportunity more than the marriage.

When God joined man and woman together in marriage, he did a mysterious thing that we will spend a lifetime trying to understand.  He established a oneness that nothing else on earth can compare to.  In fact the comparison that Scripture gives to us is the relationship that Christ the groom has with his bride, the church.  That’s a pretty amazing comparison.

So let’s try to get our mind around this just a little bit more.  Kimberly and I have been married for over 16 years.  When we said, “I do”, I know that we both meant it.  We also were two independent persons who had no idea what was coming.  When God says that man and woman are joined together as “one flesh”, our mind quickly goes to the sexual bond of marriage.  And while this indeed is a profound picture of just how intimately God knits us together in marriage, it’s far from being the full picture.

As I type this blog I am away at my favorite coffee shop and my wife is at home.  Yet really she is right here with me right now and I am with her at home.  Not perfectly at all, but much, much more than we were 16 years ago.

How does this happen?  One conversation at a time.  One burden shared.  One sin confessed.  One joy celebrated.  One stress.  One loss.  One new experience.  And as the terrain of life changes and time marches on, Kimberly and I have slowly assimilated into one another.  She infuses me with all of her strengths and weaknesses.  And I do the same.  She brings her precious gift of femininity to me and I give her my masculinity.

We’ve climbed so far together.  And we have so far to go.  We both know it and yet we cherish the oneness that God is fashioning in our hearts.

So when I’m facing the winds of the world, its not just me in that moment.  It’s me and all that my wife has poured into me.  And when my wife is facing the stress of the children each morning, it’s not just her in that moment.  Even if I’m 2,000 miles away, I will still be there through all that I’ve poured into her.

If this concept of being able to be in two places at one boggles your mind, that’s a good sign.  It’s impossible to explain it, but very possible to live.  If you are taking the Word of God seriously, you have the directions before you on how to climb these heights of oneness.

This past Sunday I preached a message that speaks of this oneness.  If you have time I would encourage you to click on “The Overflowing Family-III” and learn more on this amazing chance that we have.

One of the primary themes that I built on in this sermon came from I Peter 3:1-7.  In this text you see that Peter is calling wives to do the unthinkable-submit to their husbands.  And what’s even more humorous is that he’s asking them to do this in the context of a letter that has one primary theme---SUFFERING.  He tells wives that they should submit to the suffering that will come in their marriage.  He then tells husbands to protect and care for their wives.  Commanding them to submit to a life of suffering with them.  Why does he do this?  Why must we suffer?  Can’t we avoid suffering?

Our world tends to think so, and so do we.  But it’s impossible.  We will suffer somewhere and under someone.  The question is whether we are willing to submit to suffering according to the design of our Sovereign God.  He desires for us to submit to suffering, so we can be sanctified to become more like Him.  This means that marriage gives us the powerful chance to be sanctified through our spouse.  In fact God has chosen marriage and no other relationship for this profound sanctification to happen.  So the question is, “Are you willing to submit today to suffering with your spouse?”  If you are then, you are getting ready to experience some of the greatest heights of joy possible on earth as you learn how to be “two places at once.”

So here's a very practical encouragement to you if you desire to climb in oneness with your spouse.  If you want to be one, you need take a honest look at what hinders you from being together physically, emotionally, spiritually, and so on.  If you are honest you will quickly spot several hindrances, most of which could be summed up in one word "sin".  Just like sin seprated us you from oneness with your God, so it separates you from your spouse. 

I John 2;15-17 sums up our sin nature by telling us that we are prone to "craving...lusting....boasting".  So get honest with yourself and then get honest with your spouse.  You'll find that biblical confession doesn't repel you from your spouse, but instead opens the door to oneness.  Not in one conversation necessarily.  But one + one + one....

So after looking for the sin that separates you, keep looking.  Here's what else you will find...

Time that separates- If you don't share one chunk of time together on a regular basis, you will struggle to be one.  Most men are more one with their computer or golf clubs than they are with their wife.  Many women are more one with their friends blogs then the are their husband.  So in a season where you are tempted to spend more time at work trying to make one more dollar, go home and take a step in oneness and sit down on the coach and look into the eyes of your wife.  Just take one step today that you didn't yesterday.  That's how you climb these heights of oneness, by God's grace.