Who among us does not remember the Di/Charles wedding with all the pomp and promise…and yet, colossal failure ensued
There is hope for those of you who have been wounded in your marriage or from a divorce. The next three NUGGETS continue to share how fellow strugglers have found new life, healing, happiness and promise for better days.
Don’t Give Up Hope
The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana was one of the most-watched romantic real-life events of the twentieth century. Between the legitimate longings of our hearts, and the way the Disney Empire has fed our romantic fantasies for fairy tales, aren’t you captivated by storybook romances.
Once upon a time…they lived happily ever after…the end.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, who presided at the royal wedding, gave a marvelous sermon that day. In it he said,
“Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made, the prince and princess on their wedding day. But fairy tales usually end at this point with the simple phrase, ‘They lived happily ever after.’ This may be because fairy tales regard marriage as an anticlimax after the romance of courtship. This is not the Christian view. “Our faith sees the wedding day not as a place of arrival but the place where the adventures begins.”
Some of you out there are broken. Oh, you won’t tell us. “Everything is fine,” you say. And yet in the deepest dark places you admit to being a long way from where you thought you might be, or from where you wanted to be – both in your marriage and in your life. Some of you have lost hope and are simply letting your life leak out one dreary day after another.
If that sounds like your home and marriage, take heart, there is hope. Write this down and keep it where you can see it. NO marriage ever need fail except for those who have unwilling spirits…unwilling to learn new things and/or unwilling to develop and practice new ways of being in relationship. No truer words will you ever read.
Listen to God’s hope and promises:
If you say…The damage is already done it’s too late for my marriage.
God says…
19 I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19
If you say…I don’t think God can reach my husband/my wife.
God says…
9 The Lord is patient not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. – ladies that means your husband too. 2:Peter 3:9
If you say…I don’t think I can do this.
God says…
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
If you say…My husband/wife is too far gone, he/she will never change.
God says…
26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Mathew 19:26
If you say…But I’m just so afraid that he/she will never change.
God says…
10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
If you say…What if he/she never loves me again?
God says…
8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
If you say…But I just don’t have the same feelings for my spouse anymore.
God says…
26 He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. Proverbs 28:26
9 The heart is deceitful above all things. Jeremiah 17:9
If you say…If God is so loving, how could He allow this to happen to me?
God says…
28 My God is at work in EVERYTHING to do good to those who love Him and are called and who answer His purposes. Romans 8:28
If you say…Doesn’t God want me to be happy?
God says…
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
If you say…But this is taking way too long! I don’t know how long I can wait.
God says…
9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27:14
If you say…But there is this other person in my life now that is making me feel so much better.
God says…
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Final Note
Look, I didn’t write this stuff, I just work here. These are the words of the Lord for YOU.
Nobody can steal your joy without your permission…hear that again, Nobody can steal your joy without your permission!
Run don’t walk and get some help. Restoration and Renewal and Revival are just around the corner!
Part 3 – Let Go Of The Myths About Marriage
