“The wise man built his house upon the rock . . .
The foolish man built his house upon the sand . . .
The rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up.
And the house of the LORD stood firm.”
Floods are scary things. Water can be devastating and destructive.
When it comes to marriage, there are a barrage of floods waiting to overcome, consume, and destroy it.
The temptation of cheating, pornography, financial strain, too busy to talk, too busy to be together, . . . and of course, divorce is all around us.
And, it’s so common, so easy to justify. Sadly, divorce is just not so big a deal these days.
Healthy or already shaky, Satan knows your situation and is eager to get inside your marriage in any way you let him. He’s like the water that finds the littlest crack and leaks its way through until it eventually demolishes it.
Let’s look in Malachi chapter 2, beginning at verse 13 where God says,
“You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.
And you ask ‘Why?’
It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you’ve broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
Hath not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are His.
And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring.
So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
‘I hate divorce’ says the Lord.”
Wow! If you were not already aware of it before, these words plainly spell it out.
God intends marriage to be a life-long commitment because if your marriage breaks down, it sounds like your relationship with God breaks down.
Now, this isn’t an article with practical things you can do to improve or rescue a hurting relationship. Today I want to talking to you about taking a normal happy marriage and protecting it. We have to be proactive and play defensively – rather than offensively.
Actively look for places that the water could seep into your marriage. I’m going to just give you a couple of ideas for now. Read them with your mind and your heart. Is one or both of these what you need to focus on right now?
Here are two ideas for you to pray over and ponder this week:
- Complacency: taking for granted he will always come home, be faithful, love you.
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Be active, be diligent in putting your heart, time, and effort into your marriage because complacency kills things that need to grow in order to live. Don’t be so busy with some things that you let the most important ones slide. And, work on the things that are important to him. Work with effort to keep his heart and desire for you and the family you share.
When complacency begins you should be watchful because once it has established itself as the “norm” it is highly flammable. C.S. Lewis said this in’ The Screwtape Letters
“The road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts”
Your affectionate Uncle, SCREWTAPE
Complacency may not seem all that bad I like the way the dictionary defines it; ‘a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like’. When I think about complacency words such as stagnant, sluggish, lethargic, inactive and stationary come to mind.
Fight complacency with every effort you have.
- Discon
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tent with where God has you and what He has you doing. I.e. your home, your car, your church, your jobs at home, and, of course, your marriage.
Don’t let even a little teensy bit of discontent take harbor in your heart whether it is over something BIG or something small like where you sit in church.
It’s like the worst weed, it doesn’t just there. No, it immediately begins to grow and creep into all areas of your life with a venomous poison that will make you sick with discontent.
Now, jot down what you are going to be proactively working on. Put it on your mirror, in your handbag, or inside the kitchen cupboard . . . some place where you are sure to see it.
You CAN be a joyful contented woman of The King with these simple steps.
I’ll be back with more specific ways that you can strengthen your marriage and make it strong enough to overcome any flood that life may bring.