‘For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.’ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8(NLT)
‘And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ‘ Romans 8:26-28(NLT)
Rhythm is something that’s built right into creation. We see that in the well-worn passage from Ecclesiastes we read today: there’s a time and a season for everything. We can’t be doing everything all the time with no breaks – that’s a recipe for burnout.
The (sometimes) frustrating thing is: rhythm is also something that’s built into each of us as well. We all have our individual rhythms, the ways we like to go about living our lives, and working with the rhythms of the world, of the body, of the mind, and of the spirit is necessary in order to function properly.
So then what do you do if you and your spouse have different rhythms?
It’s so tricky! But that’s one of the many reasons why we have the Holy Spirit, because He can help us in submitting to one another, even when we don’t understand them or their rhythms.
Understanding that we have rhythms is the first key in finding ways to make those rhythms line up with one another so that we can find unity and build a love that lasts. So embrace your spouse’s rhythms and then work to find ways to line them up with yours.
from 12 Days To A Love That Lasts