Is Your Marriage Worth the Fight?

I know it's wacky Wednesday or wordless Wednesday in the blog world, but somehow that doesn't seem fitting for me today.

It's a hard week. Some of you know why, some of you don't, but it doesn't really matter either way. Sometimes we just have hard weeks. They keep us humble and remind us how much we need God and each other.

Matthew is struggling in school and that makes me sad. His reading is just not where it should be, so we're doing extra work at home. I'm trying to teach him to read phonetically which is a joke because I didn't learn this way. Derek knows all these rules about when a vowel makes a certain sound and when it makes a different sound. All I'm certain of is that I never learned that. Maybe the i before e except after c, but that's about the extent of it. So basically you have the blind leading the blind. I guess Matthew and I are going to learn phonics together. Hooked on Phonics, we may be looking your number up soon!

What's really consuming my heart today though is something different. I'll survive my difficult week and Matthew will survive first grade. This is my overwhleming concern today. Marriage. There are marraiges struggling all around us, even within the church walls. My heart is broken for these couples. Men, women and children who are being wounded deeply by struggling marriages, broken marriages, shattered dreams, lost hope. The list goes on and on. Marriages are being attacked by a very real enemy, Satan and his army.

1 Peter 5:8-10 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

I love that right before this verse, we are instructed to cast our anxiety (cares) on Him because He cares for us. He cares more than any relative, best friend or pastor ever could. We are His children and as Pastor Tom would say, "I am His favorite." We are all His favorite, we just don't live like we believe that!

I also love John 10:10 that tells us that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus came to offer us more than this world can offer. We can have hope and victory through Christ, not in and of ourselves.

What is Satan using to steal and destroy your marriage? Is it pride, unfaithfulness, materialism, the comparison of others, unrealistic expectations, the stresses of life, selfishness (focusing on myself more than on others), anger, unforgiveness, bitterness? The list could go on and on. There are lists just like this all throughout Scripture. Our flesh is weak and our heart is deceitfully wicked. We can only overcome through Christ's help.

This email is not directed at anyone in particular. It's really directed at all of us, because no marriage is safe. Satan wants to destroy each and every marriage. He is patient and he will wait for just the right opportunity to attack...he will wait for that opportunity to attack when the most damage can be done.

My heart is broken for those who are hurting today. I prayed for marriages today. I wept as I thought of those that are shedding tears today because they feel like they're at the end of their rope. For the men and women where this is the very life that they're living right now. They are trying to decide if their marriage is worth the fight. I can't fix the problem. I don't have all the answers, but I can love my neighbors, my church members, my friends and family.

I John 3:18 Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.

So, my question is to you, is your marriage worth the fight? Are you ready to battle a very real enemy? Your marriage may be incredibly strong today, Praise God, but listen, none of us are exempt. The attack for us may be coming tomorrow or next week or next month.

We need to stand firm and do what is right and then, I love v. 20, God will soon crush Satan under our feet!
Romans 16:19-20 I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

We will rejoice together when that day comes! I'm praying for you and your marriage!