I’ve always been amazed at people who can enter a dilapidated, falling down house and see the potential. They can already see in their mind what the house could look like with some love, elbow grease and sometimes...months and months (maybe even years!) of work. I remember when my brother-in-law and sister-in-law bought their home. They were so excited to show it to us and I have to be honest…I felt sick as I walked through it! It was in horrible shape and all I could see was the disrepair all around me. But they could see what it could become while all I could see was its present condition. They knew that those falling down walls were worth restoring…and today their home is absolutely beautiful. I’m so glad they weren’t as short sighted as I was.
Was it a lot of work? Yes, it was. But they knew it would be worth it in the end when they could enjoy the fruit of their labor.
As I was thinking about this, I thought about other areas of our lives that sometimes need to be restored. A friendship that has been broken…a falling out with a family member…a marriage that is on the rocks. Why is it that we are often willing to put hours and hours of work into something with no eternal value…but when it comes to broken relationships…we give up and walk away instead of doing all we can to bring restoration?
Unfortunately, we see this all too often in marriages today. Our spouse isn’t making us happy…so we walk away. The person we work with is a lot more fun than the person we married…so we walk away. The stress of providing for our family becomes overwhelming…so we walk away. Our spouse has physical ailments that weren’t expected…so we walk away. Why? Because taking our wedding vows seriously and working on restoring the broken-down walls just seems like more work than we are willing or able to do.
I think it is easy for us to forget sometimes that we serve a God who is in the restoration business. He can look at a marriage that is falling apart, that is headed for divorce court and see what it CAN be with forgiveness, love and some elbow grease. Will it take a lot of work? Yes, it will. But God never gives up because He knows it will be worth it in the end when the marriage and family are restored and serving Him together.
I can’t help but think that God laid this subject on my heart to share today because someone reading this is thinking of walking away. They are toying with the idea that their marriage is just too far gone and there isn’t any hope. Unfortunately, Satan is trying hard to divide this marriage, telling those involved that life would be so much easier, and the grass would be so much greener without their spouse, without all the obligations that seem to get in the way of their happiness.
I want to urge you today to give your marriage to the Lord and allow Him to restore it. He can take the crumbling pieces and put them together to be even better than you can even imagine. Stop struggling on your own and put Jesus in the middle of your relationship and allow Him to make something beautiful out of the ashes. I guarantee you that HE IS ABLE…you just need to be willing.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful
or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the
truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith,
is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
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