I am sitting with my coffee, my bible and my prayer journal. The sun hasn't come up yet but I can hear the beautiful crashing of the waves as I sit just inside the door of our vacation home. It is mesmerizing and soothing. To watch them in the daylight as we did yesterday afternoon, I was reminded of just how much power there is behind each wave. You and I have power behind us as well, Brothers and Sisters...we have the power of Christ Jesus.
I knew before we arrived that I would spend much time in prayer this week for OUR marriages. God had put that on my heart a week or so ago and I had a column prepared for doing so in my prayer journal. As I prayed for a specific couple, I thought to myself, what really makes a marriage work? My second thought this morning is, what is it that the enemy is so after in our marriages?
I'm going to throw out some ideas for what tears apart a marriage
*Not keeping the sparks alive, the romance. Ladies, didn't we work HARD in the dating period to spark our mate? Our attention & listening skills, our cooking skills, our cleanliness/appearance? As well as planning and/or preparing a date night?
*I once heard a very true statement, the enemy works hard to get us into bed before marriage and works even harder to keep us out of bed when we are married. True? TRUE!
*Children and family. We invest all of our time and energy into one, the other, or both and at the end of the day there is zero energy for our MAN. The one who will be with us, at our side, when no one else will be. (God willing)
*Simply the enemy. He knows the core of our hearts is the relationship with our spouse and our children and he comes at us hard to tear that foundation apart.
So, what really makes a marriage work? I can only speak from my own experience, as I've walked both sides of marriage and divorce. Doesn't make me an expert. Did you hear me, this does NOT make me an expert. I've simply lived both sides of the spectrum.
I have learned from "doing the thang", that it is vital to place God first! There is an unseen person to the naked eye in my marriage. GOD. He is the glue! I'm thankful that my husband and I seek God and hunger to obey Him. We don't and won't always obey, but our hearts hunger to do so. We also sense a check in our spirits when we are allowing the world or the enemy to have something of us that takes away from our mate. Time, talent, and energy. When that is not being poured into my marriage from either me or my Man, it is time to do some re-evaluation and get my home in order.
Bill has shared often with our children and young couples that you can't give 100 percent into your marriage and expect it to work. You have to give more than that, both the man and the woman. When you do so, then you aren't meeting in the middle, you are over-lapping one another. You are covering one another.
Proverbs 31:10-31 is a great place GIRLFRIENDS, to see what God has to say for us to give 110 percent to the man we fell in love with and said I DO.
Verse 12 NIV: She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
Verse 15: She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
Verses 25-27: She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Ok, get ready....here is the GLUE
Verse 30: Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Father, You are an amazing GOD. I thank You for the gift of marriages and families. I thank You for my own marriage and the family You have so graciously blessed me with. Father, I need You to open my eyes to ways that I can respect my Man, to love our children and grandchildren and to be the woman YOU intended and designed me to be. I love how You remind me when I get out of sorts, that perhaps I have played into the part that causes what I'm feeling. I also love how when perhaps I haven't but my Man has allowed something to cause this, that we aren't quick to point fingers, but we are quick to place YOU back in the middle. Reminding one another, that You are our glue. We love You Father, we thank You for the gift of marriage, and may You be honored and glorified through our marriage. In the only Name that can save, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lovingly as I reach for Higher Grounds,
Yolanda
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13 comments:
Enjoy your vacation!! I am envious.
Marriage is hard work and anyone that tells you differently doesn't have a clue. It is worth the work,however. God gave me a wonderful man and I am blessed.
Leah
Beautiful and SO TRUE! Standing in agreement for our marriages and those within our scope of influence.
I assume those waves you're listening to are on that little island I visited last year? :o) Ahhh...soak in those delicious sounds and sights and BREATH DEEP the glory of God.
Love you girl,
Melinda
Oh, I would love to be at the shore right now, listening to and watching the waves rolling in ... so peaceful, and yet so powerful at the same time, just like our relationship with Christ! He gives us the peace that passeth understanding, and He gives us power (through the Holy Spirit) like no other power in the world!
I have been blessed with a godly hubby, of which I am thankful. But we still have to work hard to make our marriage strong, and to do that you have to fight hard to keep worldly influences out of your life.
I love Proverbs 31, some of my favorite Scripture, and I strive to be more and more like her everyday, but sadly, I always seem to be lacking in one area or another! But I just keep on running the race, (trying) not to look back to the past!
Have a lovely vacation!
Margie :)
I wish I was there to feel and hear the power of the waves Yolanda! OUR MIGHTY AWESOME GOD! I was just remembering this past week of our 25th anniversary just over a year ago in Cancun. I LOOOVE THEE OCEAN!
But more importantly... LOVE THE LORD... and "my man."
Thank you for reminding me today of the Prov 31 woman. I LOVE THAT YOU WROTE WE SHOULD OVER LAP EACHOTHER... COVER EACHOTHER...great words of wisdom there!! AND I PRAY TODAY that the Lord BLESSES YOU AND YOUR HUBBY FOREVER*
SWEET HOLYKISSES,
HOPE you find some pretty seashells!
Lea
Oh, how lovely to feast on the Word in such a sweet place. And what a great thing to focus on...marriage. Vacation for us is always a renewal time for our relationship. I hope you find the same.
I'm still not feeling very well. A week of buggin' is no fun. But I've finally started some antibiotics, so hope better days are coming soon!
Love you, girl!
I love what you wrote about your mate when you said "you are covering each other". Wow that is huge. I'll keep that tucked away for my future.
I'm so glad that you took God with you on the vacation. Do you know how many people leave God at home when they go on vacation?
I used to encourage friends to 'take Him along.'
But after I did that one time - a new friend said this, "God surprised me at the airport - He was already there waiting!"
I thought that was so special and so like God!!!! He's already there to meet us and speak to us and work in our lives 24/7 - even -and especially - on vacation!
Focus on Him my friend - as you are! I can't wait to read what else He'll do while you're away!
Choosing JOY,
Stephanie
Have a wonderful vacation Yolanda.
I know firsthand how much work marriage is. For many years mine was on the rocks until I came to the place where I had to plant it on the Rock Christ Jesus and keep it there.
Making Him a vital part of our union has brought about a dramatic change. Still a lot of hard work to put in but a marked change has occurred.
Definitely standing in agreement with you for our marriages.
Blessings,
Vickie
Oh how the sound of the waves usher me right into the throne room of God! I can't wait to go home on Friday. Thank you for sharing the wisdom of God with us about marriage. We all need a reminder!
Blessings - Lisa
This is too sweet...and true. I realized this weekend...just how much my husband has changed since being saved...we were picking up the house and he LOVES to vaccum, but he hates to dust, yet when I asked him to dust so that I could focus on the kitchen...he had no complaints. (I did go back and take the items off of the mantel and put them back for him).
Thanks for you post...Marriage is a true dedication and hard work, but when you put God in there the work gets more enjoyable.
Have fun!
Tessa
What great words that we all need to hear. We can never be too lax in our marriages. We have to work constantly at it.
THanks for this and have a super vacation!
BEth
I forgot you are on vacation! Enjoy! I agree how much it takes to keep a marriage alive, strong and together! Sooo much!
Hello! Thanks for stopping by my blog!
My husband and I (with our 2 boys) arrived in Spain August 2008. My husband was raised in The Salvation Army, and my family began attending the church as teens. We have been Salvation Army officers (pastors) 6 years for me, and 4 years for my husband.
Blessings!
thank you for the wonderful encouragement...With her own hands the wise woman builds her house and with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down...
I'm off for a few days later this week to tend to my own marriage...just me and my man sans kids for the first time in years! We have taken two dates already this week so we can talk about more than the household affairs this weekend...he blesses me!
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