Love
suffers long and is kind…
[love]
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love
never fails.
1
Corinthians 13:4, 7-8
Today I know a couple who is going through a rough time in their marriage.
I won’t name them or give away any clues as to who they are, but this post is
for them.
Over the last few months, I have come to know about a very wise and
influential couple. Neither one of them have ever met me. They do not know my
name or have any clue that I know theirs. However, God has been using them in a
great and mighty way in my life. Here is what their daughter recently had to
say about their marriage of nearly forty years:
My parents would NEVER want me to say they had the
perfect marriage. No one does. It’s how they handled the bad WHEN it came. And
believe me, it came to our house on more than one occasion.
It was the CHOOSING love and grace when anger and
walking away was more logical. In our society today, we hear the question “why
get married?” For my parents, it was a commitment they made that enabled them
to stay together even when times were tough. And 40 years later, we can look
back and learn from this strong commitment.
I am thankful I was able to learn so much from them.
They demonstrated love in the most beautiful ways. In the most quiet ways. At
the end of my Mother’s life, I have never seen such love between 2 people, and
it had nothing to do with flowers, cards, or dates. It was the “being there”
when nothing was left but the bad. It was one taking care of the other in the
most humbling of ways. It was one depending on the other with as much faith as
she had. They are love personified, and it is a privilege to say I have been
there to witness it.*
I may not be married myself, but I have been around the block enough to
know that staying together is a choice. It is a mindset. “It [is] choosing love
and grace when anger and walking away [is] more logical.”
The couple who makes staying together their only option will stay together
until death separates them for only a little while. That is not to say that
they will never have problems. They will have problems. As my friend has said,
it is how we handle the bad when it
comes. Our problems may be too big for us to fix on our own, but God is still
in the restoration business. It has always been His goal to restore
relationships; not tear them apart or throw them away. If we will take our
problems to Him, He has promised to fix them. But we have to listen. We have to
trust. We must obey Him.
Maybe you’re here today and you are walking through the valley of the
shadow of divorce. Maybe your face is so close to the wall that you don’t know
what color it is. If that’s the case, I can’t help you. I’ve not been there. I
don’t have that kind of experience. But Jesus knows what you’re going through.
He knows you better than you know yourself. And He is calling to you, “Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew
11:28). Don’t run away. Don’t part. Rather, cling to the one whom you vowed to
love, honor, and cherish till death do you part, and cling also to Jesus for He
is the only one who has the power to sustain you and save your marriage.
If you don’t know Jesus, you don’t know the hope that I have spoken of
today. However, there is a way for you to know that hope today. Two thousand
years ago Jesus died on an old, rugged cross for your sins and for mine. Three
days later He rose from the dead, defeating Hell and the grave. It was that
same restoration power that He wants to use to restore and heal your broken
home. Will you trust Him today? If you will simply turn from all sin and trust
in Jesus alone to save you, He will save you today and keep you saved forever.
*Quote taken from “Things I Learned About Marriage From My Parents.”
