Have you ever heard anyone say that marriage isn’t easy?
I’ve heard it too, but if you’re like me, you let it roll off your back.
It wasn’t that I didn’t believe it. It’s just that I didn’t relate to it.
What wasn’t my current reality didn’t seem real.
But you don’t have to be married for any length of time to discover that marriage really isn’t easy. Maybe you’re there now!
Marriage is hard and it not only takes a lot of work, it takes a lot dying to self, a lot of patience, a lot of understanding, a lot of zipping your lip and a lot of prayer.
Marriage sometimes reminds me of when I was a kid and my dad drove us through one of those tunnels that goes underwater in Alabama. We held our breath. It was something we did when we went through a tunnel, but this was different. We were under water and the tunnel was long and the lights went out and I was scared. Very scared.
But I kept holding my breath until I couldn’t hold it any more.
And then I started over!
Bound and determined to make it to the other side.
But it was a really long tunnel. I mean a REALLY long tunnel.
And my lungs started to feel like they were going to explode and I felt like I was going to pass out…and I couldn’t hold it any more.
And then I started over.
In fact, I think I started over at least 10 times. But if finally happened. I started to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It beamed in with radiance and the closer we got the more beautiful it became.
And when I saw the first glimmer of light, I was determined to hold that last breath in until we made it.
And I did.
Marriage is a lot like my childhood journey through the tunnel.
We just keep trying. We keep holding on. We keep starting over.
No matter how dark it gets or how long it lasts. We just keep on until we get to the other side. No matter whether or not we feel like we’re going to explode and we can’t hold on any longer. We just take a deep breath and try to make it a little farther until we begin to see a little light.
You see, so many give up in the middle of the marriage tunnel and they never get to see how sweet it is when the light finally begins to pierce the darkness.
They don’t get to experience how radiant it is when you have made a really long journey through the dark and saw that first glimmer of light shining in the distance.
They don’t get to bask in the beauty of knowing you made it through…together. And that the journey you took as two had made you one in the process.
They don’t learn to understand each other’s fears, failures, inadequacies, strengths, weaknesses, and wounds.
Marriage never takes on the form of ministry when they don’t hang on through the dark places.
They never get to help their spouse fulfill their God-given potential because they walk away when the road seems long and the journey gets too hard.
Today, I know you may be in a very dark place in your marriage. I know you may want to give up and give in. But don’t give up in the middle of your marriage tunnel.
The light is coming. I don’t know when. But I do know it’s sweeter than what you ever imagined.
And even when it’s hard, your Savior is with you every step of the way and He really can make a miracle out of a really bad marriage.
So, take another breath sweet friend. Hold it as long as you can.
And if the light doesn’t come and you can’t hold it any longer, just let it out, breathe deep and start all over again.
QUESTION: DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WANT TO GIVE UP IN YOUR MARRIAGE? DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES? HAS THIS ENCOURAGED YOU?
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