Friday, June 24, 2011

We Nearly Missed It All

Michael and I began our 25th year of marriage this week.  We have shared nearly every joy and trial together since we became 4-H club friends in 1981.  He is my confidant, my best friend, and the love of my life. 

Someone complimented us on our “rock solid” marriage and I thought through our journey together.  There was a time when we barely liked each other.  He drove me completely nuts with the things he found funny, the way he chewed his food, absolutely everything.  I shudder to consider how he thought of me during that time and how I affected him with the disasterous things I was doing.  Our marriage was far from rock solid, it was on the edge of a cliff, about to fall into the abyss.

We were on the verge of divorce and I can think of only a handful of people who knew we were having trouble.  None of them was prone to pray.  If we were prayed for at all during that time, it was by the Spirit.  Romans 8:26 says, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning to deep for words.”  (NASB)

By the grace of God alone, I recognized a willingness to fight for our relationship.  For reasons I cannot explain, I began to find some good in my husband and over time, we re-established the friendship we once shared.  The walls I had erected were coming down, one brick at a time.

As the Lord called us both back to Himself, I fell on my knees.  I started to pray specifically for our marriage and we began to stand on the foundation of Christ.  I prayed these specific verses, among many others:

·         That God would knit our hearts together in love (Colossians 2:2)

·         That we would find the good in one another (Philippians 4:8)

·         That Mike would be the head of our home as Christ is head of the church (Eph 5:23)

·         That I would submit to my husband as is fitting in the Lord (Colossians 3:18)

·         That God would restore the years that the locust had eaten (Joel 2:25)

Over the next 3 years, our relationship was slowly and deeply restored by the grace of God and for His glory alone.  We have become “rock solid” indeed, not by our own efforts but because we now stand on Jesus, the rock and our firm foundation. 

After we had been out of the fire for some time, I came across a verse in Romans that summarized our journey in two sentences:  “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  (NIV).

We are evidence of God’s transforming work through the renewal of our minds.  Once I could not imagine spending another minute with my husband and now I cannot imagine a single moment of my life without him.  I eagerly await the number of years that the Lord allows us to share together.  I thank Him for giving us a willingness to grow, humility to lean on His strength, and the gift of bountiful blessings that our marriage brings.  Just think.  We nearly missed it all.

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