‘For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ‘ Jeremiah 29:11(NLT)
‘The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.’ Psalms 28:7(NLT)
‘I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.’ Romans 15:13(NLT)
‘In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.’ 2 Corinthians 6:4-10(NLT)
‘So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.’ 1 Peter 1:6-9(NLT)
‘Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.’ James 1:2-4(NLT)
Losing happiness in our marriage brings frustration and discontentment to our lives. We then start blaming circumstances, our spouse, in-laws and we make life miserable for us and those around us. We tend to believe that life has given us a raw deal. Today social media dictates what happiness in a marriage looks like. Days become miserable when our marriages don’t look the same or better.
An important lesson we need to apply in our marriages is that every person is unique. So is every marriage. God brings two people together with a plan and a purpose which is more than just satisfying their emotional, physical and mental needs. No two marriages are the same, they may have similar parts.
Growing up with fairy tales, every bride wants to meet prince charming who will sweep her off her feet. Every young prince wants to sweep up his beauty even as they ride along. All fairy tales end with ‘they lived happily ever after’. Though marriages start as a fairy tale for many, ‘the happily ever after’ is not the reality we face in our marriages…
A young orphan girl in the Bible suddenly finds herself as the queen of a large kingdom. When things were going fine, she was daunted with the task of saving her people. There are valuable lessons to be learned from the life of queen Esther, which can be applied in our marriages.
First, get God’s approval before you discuss the matter with your spouse. When Esther had to go to meet the king she did not use that charm that made her queen but she fasted and prayed. This is a good discipline to follow— checking with God before we discuss with our spouses. God gives us wisdom to handle issues realistically.
Second, she risked her life to do what God wanted her to do. There may be some who will risk their marriages to do what God wants them to do. Let not our marriages take precedence over what God wants to do through our lives.
Even as we strive to fulfill God’s purpose in our life though our marriages let us remember to
Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding;
in all our ways submit to Him, and He will make our paths straight.
Are we doing our part, fulfilling God’s plan for humanity through our marriages?
from Being Real In Our Marriages by Sherene Ellen Rajaratnam