AVOID THE DEMANDS THAT HINDER THE GOOD FAMILY LIFE

CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION

SUNDAY AUGUST 22^ND 2021

Sermon by Pastor Marc Simeon

EVITER LES EXIGENCES QUI NUISENT A LA BONNE VIE FAMILIALE

AVOID THE DEMANDS THAT HINDER THE GOOD FAMILY LIFE

LECTURE: Genèse 30: 1-4

Ge 30:1 ¶ Lorsque Rachel vit qu’elle ne donnait point d’enfants à Jacob, elle porta envie à sa soeur, et elle dit à Jacob: Donne-moi des enfants, ou je meurs!

 2 La colère de Jacob s’enflamma contre Rachel, et il dit: Suis-je à la place de Dieu, qui t’empêche d’être féconde?

 3 Elle dit: Voici ma servante Bilha; va vers elle; qu’elle enfante sur mes genoux, et que par elle j’aie aussi des fils.

 4 Et elle lui donna pour femme Bilha, sa servante; et Jacob alla vers elle.

 5 Bilha devint enceinte, et enfanta un fils à Jacob.

 6 Rachel dit: Dieu m’a rendu justice, il a entendu ma voix, et il m’a donné un fils. C’est pourquoi elle l’appela du nom de Dan.

XX

Ge 30:1 ¶ Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”

 2 And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

 3 So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.”

 4 Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.

INTRODUCTION

• The Bible is not the record of perfect people, but the record of a perfect God loving and dealing with imperfect people.

ADAM & EVE

• The first human family Adam and Eve had a lot of issues.
• One can see that Eve was not a submissive wife and that Adam was not the ideal husband as God intended for the man to be.
• Eve took the initiative to have this lengthy and inappropriate conversation with the serpent.
• Without consulting her husband, she gave the first bite.
• Without any hesitation, she handed the rest of the fruit to her husband.
• Without any resistance, Adam just savored the fruit by the dictate of his wife.
• When God questioned Adam about the forbidden fruit, he blamed God in his reply for putting the woman next to him.
• The whole human race was doomed not because of Eve but because of Adam, for Adam was in charge.

ABRAHAM AND SARA

• Abraham and Sara was a great couple but they too had many flaws.
• Abraham yielded to the demands of Sara to go over Hagar in search of a child.
• Sara then began to mistreat Hagar after she conceived the child she asked for.
• Sara then demanded Abraham to kick Hagar out probably in the late term of her pregnancy.
• Although Hagar managed to come back to the house by God’s instruction.
• Some years later, after Sara conceived her son Isaac, she then again demanded Abraham to kick Hagar out along with her son Ishmael to die in the wilderness.

LOT & WIFE

• Lot is another biblical character who had a dysfunctional family life
• He married a stubborn woman who so loved wealth;
• She would not even obey the instructions of the angels.
• She looked back and became a pillar of salt.

ISAAC & REBEKAH

• Isaac and Rebekah, another biblical family with issues.
• The two parents practiced open favoritism toward their children.
• Rebekah was an overzealous mother who taught her son Jacob the art of deception.
• Isaac was a father who set out to curse his own son Jacob by disposing all the blessings for his favorite son Esau.

Moses and Zipporah

• Moses’ wife had to take matters into her own hands and circumcised her two sons to save the family from God’s anger.
• Zipporah said to Moses: “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!”

JOB & WIFE

• Job married a woman who enjoyed the good times with him.
• When adversities fell on Job, she instructed him to curse God and die in his agony.

ABIGAIL & NABAL

• A virtuous and beautiful woman who married a crazy man named Nabal.
• She constantly had to bail him out of trouble.

AHAB & JEZEBEL

• Ahab was a weak king who married a domineering and evil woman named Jezebel.
• King Ahab clearly wore the skirt in the family leaving Jezebel to corrupt the nation with crime and idolatry.

DAVID & Michal

• David married Saul’s daughter Michal who had issues with his passion for God.
• She despised David for dancing naked in jubilation at the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

In the New Testament

ANANIAS & SAPPHIRA

• The deceiving couple who died in the temple on the same day for lying to God about their offerings.

On the good side we have two exceptional New Testament couples.

JOSEPH & MAY

• The exceptional couple who yielded their lives to the will God.

AQUILLA & PRISCILLA

• The missionary couple who worked side by side in secular and in religious endeavors.
• They were the backbone of Paul’s ministry.
• They did a great service to the furthering of the Gospel.

DISCLAIMER

• As we can see, the bible contains all sorts of characters.
• Some have distinguished characters and yet flanked in some areas of their lives.
• Your family and mine are not all so different than theirs.
• Only God’s grace to keep a marriage together.
• We can learn both from their good works and their mistakes to enhance our walks with God.

EVITER LES EXIGENCES QUI NUISENT A LA BONNE VIE FAMILIALE

AVOID THE DEMANDS THAT HINDER THE FAMILY LIFE

• As we come to the end of this series of messages, I want to give yet one more advice to anyone who wishes to have an exemplary family.
• Do not expect your spouse to meet all your needs.
• Do not expect the family life to meet all your needs.
• Do not expect the perfect family structure in order to be happy.
• There are circumstances beyond your control that can hit your family without any notice.
• You may find yourself in a blended family without seeking for it.
• You may have to deal with sicknesses in the family.
• You may have to deal with handicap and infirmities in a family.
• You may have to deal with bareness in the family.
• You may have to deal with impotence in the family.
• You may have to deal with complex extended family issues.
• You may have to deal with poverty, failures and setbacks in the family.
• You may have to deal with the death of a child in the family.

HOW COUPLES TO DEAL WITH IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS

• At some point in time one may be tempted to put the pressure on her or her spouse to fix the impossible.
• Never push your spouse to say the next three sentences:
  • I AM NOT GOD /JE NE SUIS PAS DIEU
  • I AM NOT SO AND SO /JE NE SUIS PAS AUTRUI
  • I AM DOING THE BEST I CAN / J’AI MES LIMITES

Ge 30:1 ¶ Lorsque Rachel vit qu’elle ne donnait point d’enfants à Jacob, elle porta envie à sa soeur, et elle dit à Jacob: Donne-moi des enfants, ou je meurs!

 2 La colère de Jacob s’enflamma contre Rachel, et il dit: Suis-je à la place de Dieu, qui t’empêche d’être féconde?

Ge 30:1 ¶ Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”

 2 And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

• Many marriages end up in divorce because of the unreasonable demands of one of the spouses.
• Here we find Rachel getting on the last nerve of Jacob.
• «Give me children or I die / Donne-moi des enfants ou que je meurs. »
• I don’t care how; I want you to make it happen.
• The very woman who is making the demand is the one who is barren.
• Jacob said to Rachel, “Why are you putting the pressure on me?”
• “I am not God who caused you to be barren!”
• “I don’t have any say or any control in this situation.”
• Many of us are making unreasonable demands on our spouses, pushing them to chronic depression.
• Some are demanding their spouses to go back to school to get a degree. Many can, but most cannot.
• Some say, “If I can do it, you can do it too.” This attitude forces the person to feel inferior and unworthy.
• Some are demanding their spouses to get a second or a third job.
• Some spouses require the other to bring more money in the house no matter how they get it.
• Some are demanding their spouses to gain or to lose weight immediately in exchange for their love.
• Some are demanding their spouses for more children when one or the other can no longer conceive.
• Some are demanding their spouses to be more like so and so.
• Some are demanding for sexual satisfaction that the other person can no longer provide.
• Too much Viagra can kill. LOL
• Some men expect their wives to be a fulltime worker outside of the home and to be the perfect housewife at the same time reducing them to slaves.
• Some are demanding their spouses to get healthy or else.
• Some are demanding their spouses to accept polygamous relationships.
• Some are demanding their spouses to defile their marriages by having a third person in the matrimonial bed.
• Some are asking for sexual fantasies that are contrary in nature and against the will of God.
• Please be reminded that you did not marry a Jeannie or a god.
• We all have our limitations and our handicaps, only God can solve all the needs of our lives.
• You have to let your spouse know how far you can go in your quest to make them happy.  

CONCLUSION

• As we come to a close of this series of messages on the family, we all need to examine the health of our family life.
• When you find areas that you need to work on, don’t put it off. Work on it.
• We invite each of you to have a seat with your spouse and have an honest discussion.
• Find out where you might have left each other behind.
• Remember the good old days before all the dramas.
• Apologize to one another.
• Commit to begin afresh.
• Start by praying together.
• Continue by playing together.
• Advance by planning together.
• If people can fall in love for the first time in adult nursing homes in their old ages, that means that love is eternal.
• Two people who were once in love and married each other can certainly retrace their steps and find love again.
• May God add his blessings into His Words!

AMEN!