My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; my voice rises to God, and He will hear me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples.

We can find comfort in recalling the ways of our God’s deeds and the ways He blessed us in the past. It is good for us to keep account, make a list, journal the many times He has shown Himself to be our strength and our shield. It is good for us to journal God’s blessings in our marriage also.

It tends to be our nature (frail, fragile, depraved as we are) to focus on the negatives of marriage – how things have turned out differently than what we expected or wanted or how he has changed after marriage. Our husband is a gift. It is good for us to remember what it was about him before marriage that cast a spell on us and we fell in love with. How long did we pray for our “knight in shining armor” before he came into our lives? How much did we pray that he would love us? How much did we pray while dating him? How did we see God’s hand over the wedding?

One young woman pausing at the back of the church with her arm on her dad’s, smiled and thanked God for the crowd of people who had set aside the day to witness her vows to her soon-to-be-husband. Stepping onto the white carpet rolled out in her “purity” honor, she took a deep breath and looked again at the young man waiting for her to join him at the altar. As she was walking down the aisle she noticed there was not one flower to be seen. The florist had not delivered and set up the flowers she had so meticulously planned for months in advance – ordered and paid for. Though disappointed, she chose to focus on what was going right and the anticipated future she and her “knight” would share together. She had much to thank God for. Years later when she speaks of her beautiful wedding she never mentions the lack of flowers and what is interesting is that no one else has ever referred to them either. It is amazing the importance we place on things that are temporal. The focus should be to be an example of God’s grace in marriage.

A question for us is: What has changed about us after we married that he has had to accept?

I ask myself:

1. What is the temporal I am focusing on?
2. What are the beautiful things I have forgotten about my wedding?
3. What are the memories about discovering my knight?

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!

God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel. His tabernacle is in Salem; His dwelling place also is in Zion. There He broke the flaming arrows, the shield and the sword and the weapons of war. Selah  Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;

We are reminded of God’s great power and that He will have His way with us. He destroys the enemy’s weapons, cripples the enemy’s workers, brings the wicked down, and shatters attitudes of the government leaders who rebel against Him. There is a warning in this Psalm about making a vow. When we take an oath of allegiance to Him, we are then to live up to the obligations laid upon ourselves. We are to be conscious of keeping it. We are to fulfill it!

Our marriage vow is made before our holy God. We must learn to get along and demonstrate to the unsaved world that what we said through our marriage vow – to love, honor and obey our husband until death parts us – is real and worthy of our care. Here are a few “Daily Tips for Your Marriage” by Glenda Hotton, List To Live By – for Every Married Couple.

• Verbally share the events of the day.
• Renew statements regarding the relationship. “I love you.” “You are special to me.” “I missed you.” “I have been looking forward to being with you.”
• Touch each other in meaningful ways – hugs, kisses, holding hands, sitting close.
• Remember that commitment leads to communication; communication stimulates forgiveness; forgiveness offers grace, which develops intimacy.
• Show appreciation for something your partner has done – say thank you.
• Take turns asking and explaining when you have misunderstood each other.
• Share hopes and dreams – a basic to a close relationship.
• Be a good listener – no response may be necessary.

If we practice these little “Daily Tips” our marriage will demonstrate we care to a watching fallen world. They are simple, but it is the little things that make or break a marriage. Enjoy.

I ask myself:

1. Do I practice the Daily Tips showing that little things mean a lot?
2. Do I recall with awe the marriage vows said at the altar?
3. Do I purpose today to show the world I love my husband?
4. Do I believe God can take good care of me? In all things? In my marriage?

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!

We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, for Your name is near; men declare Your wondrous works. But as for me, I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.

Matthew Henry said, “Those who love darkness rather than light shall have their doom accordingly.” We can be confident in His divine justice and know that God will destroy the wicked. We are bombarded on every side by the wicked to leave our home and ignore our husband and do our own thing no matter who it hurts or what we have to do to get what we want.

We live in a fallen world. We are faced with injustices on every side. We can become discouraged if we don’t keep our focus on the Lord. He promises to judge rightly – He punishes wrong and rewards right. We must remain fixed on God. We are to praise and worship Him in all things.

We are to do this in our marriage also. Marriage was designed to be a picture of Christ’s love in relationship. Many marriages feel like “a storm’s-a-brewing.” At times some wives feel a sense of “what did I get myself into?” We are reminded that God is the judge. We can trust Him in every part of our lives. Nahum 1:3 says, “The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and storm.”

There is no wind or storm that comes our way that He isn’t aware of. He cares for us in His gentle and compassionate way. Even in our marriage, nothing is cruel chance; God in His loving-kindness will take care of us as we trust Him and praise His name.

If God can send a storm through space; and dot with trees the mountain’s face, if He the sparrow’s course can trace, what can He do for you?

If God can hang the stars on high, can paint the clouds that drift on by, can send the sun across the sky, what can He do for you?

If God can send us sunny days and nature from her slumber raise till song birds lift their notes of praise, what can He do for you?

If God can do these many things, can count each little bird that sings; control the universe that swings, what can He do for you?

If God can bring sweet peace to me and to my soul bring liberty, by Christ who hung upon the tree, this He can do for you. (G.E. Wagoner, from “Log of the Good Ship Grace”)

I ask myself:

1. Is my marriage a good example of the love I have for Christ?
2. Do I show love to my husband as if he is my priority?

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!

Yet God is my king from of old, Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You broke open springs and torrents; You dried up ever-flowing streams. Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun. You have established all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter.

This is our God, the almighty God whose mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. This truth should encourage us to hold His hand tightly and walk with Him closely. We see this in a story told by Tony Campolo.

A friend of mine has an adorable four-year-old daughter. She is bright, and she is talkative. If tryouts were being held for a modern-day Shirley Temple, I think she would win, hands down. One night there was a violent thunderstorm. The lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled – it was one of those terrifying storms that forces everyone to stop and tremble a bit. My friend ran upstairs to his daughter’s bedroom to see if she was frightened and to assure her that everything would be all right. He got to her room and found her standing on the window sill, spread-eagled against the glass. When he shouted, “What are you doing?” she turned away from the flashing lightning and happily retorted, “I think God is trying to take my picture.”

Oh, the sweet simplicity of a child-like faith. That is what we are to have. That is how we are to act. God is the blessed controller of all things. Do we love and trust Him so much that in the lightning storms of life, we can smile, look up and visualize that He is taking our picture?

God wants our marriage to be a picture of His love. He wants to work in the life of our husband allowing us to focus on becoming the woman He created us to be? Can it be that He wants us to take our hands off so He can do His job? Do we believe God can do a better job than we can? We are not our husband’s Holy Spirit. We need to pray for him and trust God. We are not God!

I ask myself:

1. Do I try to take God’s job from Him?
2. Do I see the storms and whirlwinds of marriage as God taking my picture – am I ready?
3. Do I delight in becoming the woman I am to be and let God work on my sweetheart?

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!

Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge…

Spiritual myopia is when we can see only what is immediately under our “spiritual nose,” that which is temporal, physical, and earthly. John Donne said, “As he that fears God fears nothing else, so he that sees God sees nothing else.” We need to read and reread this Psalm for its very powerful wisdom in our visual acuities.

This is how it often is in our marriage. We develop a condition called myopia. We can’t see at a distance. We see only the immediate. We tend to be jealous women who compare our husband to another’s. We wish he did this activity, or made this amount, or said this or that, or brought us gifts like someone else’s husband, or looked like our TV hero. Yet, who are we? What are we like? How do we treat him?

When preparing for a talk on “Gentleness” as a piece of the Fruit of the Spirit, a survey was launched to many women asking how they demonstrated gentleness as a wife. One young woman replied: “There are many negative examples I can think of that demonstrate a lack of gentleness. Sadly, men are portrayed as idiots worthy of no respect in many T.V. shows, which reflects our culture. Even in our church I see many women treat their husband with impatient and rude attitudes or talking of his faults with their friends.” This same young wife expressed gentleness as “communicating in every word, ‘I love you; I believe in you; I value you as a gift from God.’”

Webster defines gentleness as “a state of being gentle; having mildness of manners or disposition; not harsh or stern especially in manner, nature or effect.” Mr. Webster seems to think gentleness is important. God does even more. For us as Christian women, we have the fruit of the Spirit. It isn’t something we work for or strive after. We have it and we are to walk in it (Galatians 5:22). We are to live our lives as if we believe it. This always begins first in our marriage. We ask ourselves the question: “How do we communicate to our husband this message?”

Without our “spiritual glasses” we see only the thing that is causing our situation to be miserable. When we walk in the spirit of gentleness, we will consider how we communicate, “I love you; I believe in you; I value you as a gift from God.” Obedience heals spiritual myopia.

I ask myself:

1. Do I focus on that directly in front of my nose?
2. Do I neglect to show kindness and gentleness to my sweetheart?
3. Do I wear my spiritual glasses enough to see the value in my marriage?
4. Do I treat my husband with the respect that shows I love, believe and value him?

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!