The only marriage design that Lasts

 Read Esther 1. 

King Ahasuerus ruled the Medio-Persian Empire from India to Ethiopia.  In his pride, he wanted to reveal to his leaders the wealth and the power of his realm.  After a six-month tour, he hosted a seven-day party.  In an inebriated condition, he had nothing left to show-off but his wife's beauty.  Queen Vashti demonstrated greater character in her unwillingness to be paraded before a bunch of drunken men.  Her decision could have cost her life.  It did cost her marriage and her royal position. 

The remainder of this chapter deals with how the king could save face in the light of his wife's refusal.  The best his advisers could suggest was to model the rule of his own home by putting away his queen and legislating marriage for everyone else.  There is no mention of a loving relationship. 

God's design in marriage is found in Ephesians 5.  A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved us and gave himself for us.  A wife is to respond to her husband as she responds to our loving Lord.  Without these elements put into practice, no marriage works or lasts.  Oh, the couple may continue to live under the same roof, but the true enjoyment of the relationship is found only in how the One who instituted marriage intended it to be.