My heart has been so burdened lately for marriages today! It seems like every few weeks I get more news that a couple I know are getting a divorce. It breaks my heart. Some are mutual, some are one sided, some involve children, some don’t, some have been married for 3 years some have been married for 20. If I am not hearing about couples divorcing, I hear about countless couples that are having problems in their marriage and are miserable. My heart is so heavy! I have lifted all of these people to the Lord, but still a feeling of sadness resides within me. Most of these couples have a similar story….they met, were truly in love, were best friends, and for the most part they just stopped loving each other somewhere in their marriage. I am not sure if the Lord is stirring something up in my heart to show me that He wants to use me to minister to couples, or women going through this, but friends, it breaks my heart! When I think about it I well up with tears! In my last semester of Grad school, I took two premarital/marital counseling classes and really saw the need of solid premarital counselors that are needed in the church today, and also counselors in the church that are there specifically for couples to go to and try to work out their issues to save their marriage. I struggle with the fact that I have no experience whatsoever in relationships, I have never been married, and I know God can use anyone in any way He wants, it’s just daunting to think of being used to counsel married or engaged couples and only have book knowledge, not experience as well.Friday night I went to the dollar theater and saw the movie “Fireproof” with Kirk Cameron. I have been waiting to see it, and it finally came to the dollar theater so I knew I had to go. As I watched the movie, I spent most of it in tears (as well as everyone else around me), and have not cried that hard in a movie in a long time. I saw so many of my friends, and family members in the characters of that movie. While some of the movie I thought was portrayed a little skewed, for the most part I loved it, I love the way they portray the process of not giving up on the other, of loving the other the way the Lord loves them, and showing real life struggles that men and women are bombarded with every day. A central part of the movie is “The Love Dare” that lasts for 40 days. There are several married small groups in my church that are doing the Fireproof bible study and are doing the love dare with each other, which I think is great! I won’t give away anymore in case you haven’t seen the movie, but I highly, highly recommend you rent it or buy it TODAY!
More than anything, I want to be a wife one day, and experience marriage. I have always prayed but these days I am praying even harder that the Lord will prepare me and my future spouse now for the lifelong commitment we will make one day before Him, before friends, and before family. I know that marriage is hard, that it is hard work, that it takes two people being selfless everyday to meet the needs of the other, and everyday will not be an amazing day, but I pray that I will not have to go through what so many marraiges are going through. I pray that I will continue to be in a church that will support me, counsel me, and be there for me when I need them in those hard times. Please pray for the marriages today! Pray for the Christians who are throwing in the towel, for one spouse being left by another spouse who will not reconcile their marriage, and for couples who are living in misery every single day because they feel divorce is not an option, and feel as if they have nowhere to turn to get help or counsel and feel trapped.
I do know that in the midst of all of this, the Lord has given me a gentle heart for couples going through divorce or hard times, to not judge them, but to pray for them, love them, and be there for them as best I can. I cannot say that I support all of their decisions but I am in no way to judge them or condemn them. I pray God can use me in some way to minister to them, and to show them His love in a very dark time of their life. Here is the song used in the move “Fireproof” called “Love is not a fight” written and performed by Warren Barfield. After seeing the movie, this song makes me cry every time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NoIJglsGms
3 comments:
I know how you feel!! I have felt like my heart was being ripped out and stomped all over the last few days, just hearing people's pain and hearing more and more stories of sadness....I am at such a loss as to what to do...but i do know to pray!!! I do feel like there is a major battle going on and we need to defeat it in God's power.
Ashish and I just saw fireproof yesterday....I hated the acting..haha..but great movie...if only more people would see it..
It was AWESOME to see you last week....you and Dina are just amazing,...
thanks Sandra! I agree that a huge battle is going on! It's just hard when you feel so helpless and don't know what to do.
I agree about the acting in fireproof :) haha, not the best I've seen! I heard the actors didnt get paid in the movie b/c it was so low budget....but all in all it was a good story line.
it was good to see you too!! You seem so happy where God has you, and I pray continued blessings and protection on your marraige! Hopefully we can make a trip to Charlotte soon!!!
Will and I were going through a really hard time and saw the movie and helped us. Will ended up doing the love dare, helping things a lot.
The key thing to making a marriage work is doing things selflessly for the other person, what THEY want, and not expecting anything in return. Another thing is communication, and letting the other person finish what they're trying to say, and try to understand their point of view, not understanding it your own way.
It's a hard thing to do, but that's what Will and I have had to learn.
Post a Comment