God's Our Heavenly Husband

For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth he is called—Isaiah 54:5

I was reading a devotion that reminded women not to take their mate for granted. It made some good points, and I found myself taking a personal inventory. I felt pretty proud of myself since even after fifty years of marriage I still remember to say “thank you” to my Bertram after doing something kind for me, or to tell him how much I appreciate him, or show little kindnesses toward him like bringing a special treat after I’ve been shopping. By the time I closed my book I was glad I had taken time to read the devotion and happy for the reminder of being kind and considerate. Of course, I’m not a perfect wife—I’m still a work in progress—but I still make an effort to be considerate of the mate God gave me to partner with through life.

That devotion reminded me of the various Bible verses that refer to God as our husband. Those like the one we have today where God speaks to His people through the prophet Isaiah,

“For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God.” (Isa. 54:6-8)

I’m familiar passages such as this since I often use them to comfort a woman after her beloved spouse has gone home to be with the Lord. But thinking of these verses today, after reading the devotion, I thought of them in a different way; I reflected on them asking myself the same questions I asked myself when I was doing a personal inventory about my earthly marriage.

I paused to reflect; do I always remember to tell my heavenly Husband thank you after He has done something kind for me or been considerate towards me? Do I remember to tell Him how much I love and appreciate Him? Do I remember to ask His thoughts about the things I am thinking of doing or changing around in my life? Do I remember to acknowledge Him in my day, check in with Him when I’ve been away from Him for a period of time? Bless Him with special prayers of praise and thanksgiving for no reason at all? At the end of each day do I remember to pause and say thank you heavenly Husband for protecting and caring for me all day?  

Our heavenly Husband God, may not need the same kind of care our earthly husbands do, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t need and want to hear how much we love and appreciate Him. Just like our earthly husbands and mates, pausing to say thank you God, or show appreciation for His many kindnesses and care can only bring us closer together, deepen my love for Him and cause my faithfulness to increase.    

The passages I have come to love and recall for women who are grieving the loss of their earthly mate have been included in our Bible so we can remember the intimate and loving relationship God can have with his people. He is not only our Provider, our Healer, our Comforter, our Encourager, our Restorer, He is our Husband and we are His bride. His covenant over us is established and eternal. What a wonderful heavenly Husband we are blessed to have!