Life is challenging.
Marriage is beautiful, but it’s not always easy. If it was easy, the divorce rate wouldn’t be as high as it is. Here’s a heartbreaking statistic:
“About 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce. The divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher.” www.apa.org/topics/divorce
As I started to look at the many reasons that couples are choosing divorce, I saw a loss of hope, and fear of the future.
Can we get past this?
Do we want to get past this?
What will my life look like 10 years from now?
Is there someone better for me?
I’m tired of trying. I want to give up.
I’m getting old, I don’t want to waste my future.
I wish I stayed single.
I’ve lost all hope for this marriage.
I’m reminded of the Israelites who wandered in the desert for 40 years. All of the grumbling and griping they did reminds me of the many complaints that I’ve had over the course of my marriage.
Remember how they wished they were back in Egypt? How many people wish they were single again? How quickly we forget how much that we longed for the married life.
Marriage is a journey. It’s not a destination. We’re on our way to much better things than this life has to offer, but we’re fighting a battle.
“Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” – Hebrews 4:11
We start here, today, by entering into His rest by grace through Jesus Christ, but there remains an eternal rest for all who believe on His name.
Too many give up because of the struggles they’re facing. Financial strain, a distant spouse, lack of romance, lust, boredom, loneliness, and pride are just a few of the giants looming before us.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we read about giants in scripture. Their presence and their demise is a reminder that God is mighty to save.
In Numbers chapter 13 we read about 12 men that Moses sent to spy on Canaan. After 40 days they returned.
10 of them were fearful. There were giants in the land. The city was fortified. They couldn’t see past the impossible situation before them.
But Caleb and Joshua had hope. They were ready and willing to fight for the land that God promised them. They knew that with God all things are possible. They knew that God is bigger than anything that stood before them. They knew that the battle belonged to the Lord.
The Israelites were fearful. They grumbled, and they mourned for those days back in Egypt. But Caleb and Joshua followed God wholeheartedly regardless of those things they had seen.
Marriage is a journey to a land flowing with milk and honey, where every couple is faced with a choice: will you give up and turn back, or will you stand up and face the giants before you?
Life is too short to give up and turn back. Press on in faith. The battle belongs to the Lord!
You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife
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