Marriage

I’ve been thinkin’…

And praying…

A LOT!

On one hand it’s been wearing me down (just the emotional side of things)…

On the other hand, it’s a total honor to be able to pray for others!

I’m so glad I have a God who cares!

I know of several people whose marriages are literally falling apart around them. One or the other of them is trying to work things out, but for whatever reason things aren’t looking too good. That makes me so sad! And to make it even sadder… they are all “churched”, “Christian” couples with families. So there are children suffering too.

I have a growing burden for Christian women - married Christian women who are married to Christian men. These are supposed to be the people we don’t worry about, right? Wrong! I go to church on Sunday and since attending a larger church, I often sit and wonder about the many hurting families that are there. I cannot see their hurts, pains or struggles on the outside because most of them I don’t know, but I know (cause statistics prove it) that some of those marriages are struggling.

Why is it that way? Why do good, Christian families have to suffer? I don’t have the total answer to that but I do know a few things. For one, we live in a sinful world, so there is just gonna be some of that cause that’s how sin is. Two, Satan loves to attack believers. He loves to attack those who are doing the right things, cause they are a threat to him, and if he can get a grip on those “in the church” he thinks he’ll do better. He’s wrong, but it still happens and people are hurting, and I hate it. It makes me sad.

Since I’m no counselor, there isn’t really any advice I could offer these folks that would help them in anyway, but I do know a few things from being married for 10 years.

Marriage isn’t easy. Is it wonderful and great and do I love being married to David? YES! Would I want to be single again? NO! Does that make being married any easier sometimes? Nope.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that marriage (and kids) is not about me. It’s totally about the other person. And that’s what makes it so hard sometimes. We are such selfish people and so always trying to put someone else first is really hard. Isn’t that how it is with our relationship with Christ? We always want something from Him. Some think that if they do for Him, then He’ll do for them in return. That’s true to some extent, but the thing is He’s already done the ultimate thing for us! He gave his very life on the cross. So that’s it… that’s all He needed to do, but here’s the cool thing – that’s NOT all He does for us. He keeps on giving and giving. And that’s how we’re supposed to be in our marriage relationships. Both a relationships need daily work, daily time put into it in order to get something out of it. We can never out give God, that’s not the point. The point is to spend time with Him because we love Him. Same in our marriages… we spend time together, do things for each other – not because it benefits us – but because we love the other person.

I pray for all of these right now who are struggling with their marriages – I pray God will work miracles in their lives. And I also pray that God would protect the marriages out there that are strong, that He would keep them strong and growing. I pray that for my own marriage as well.

What a blessing it is to be able to pray for others!!!!