ChristianMilitaryWives

by Marshele Carter Waddell 

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen y our heart;
wait, I say, on the Lord!

Psalm 27:14

 My marriage is brain dead. There are no signs of life. Only the slow, monotonous drip of an intravenous routine. Surely this is not the God-design for my marriage.

 I watch my marriage melt like a snowman, temperatures rising beyond what it is able to endure. Slipping away is everything I desired in life: a romantic, growing marriage. A home where children feel safe and secure. Children who walk in the Truth. A place in community. A familiar land. Though I have worked faithfully to these ends, today in my weariness, I cannot see any of this.

 Hopelessness and the temptation to quit nip at my heels today—but deep down, I don’t want this marriage to fail. So I stay and I walk through my house like I walk though my days…alive only because of the drip of the I.V. of daily time spent with my Lord. I mourn the loss of myself. I fear that the storms have finally swept me away.

Perhaps like me, you can identify with David when he says, “O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night I have no rest” (Psalm 22:2). Just a few chapters later, he says, “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Though we may feel stuck in the night David speaks of, we must choose to believe that morning will come and the Lord will revive our hearts.

One of my favorite names for the Holy Spirit is the Comforter (John 14:26 ASV). In other translations of the Bible, [the Hoy Spirit] is called the Helper. Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17). When we turn to the Holy Spirit for help and comfort, He will not only give us aid, but He will give us a richer portion of His presence than we have ever had before. When we mourn, we will be blessed with comfort from the Comforter Himself (Matthew 5:4).

 Ask

 When I am weary, where do I seek solace? Other people? Food? The Lord?

Try memorizing God’s promises for you: Isaiah 20:28-31 and 1 Peter 5:10 are good places to start.

 Pray

 Father of compassion and God of all comfort,
You tell me to put my hope in You. You say that nothing is impossible with God. Lord, I need your power. I can say along with Paul that I know whom I have believed…YOU!  I am convinced that you are able to guard what I have entrusted to you for that day. I ask you to guard my marriage and my love and devotion for the man you gave to me. Thank you for my husband. Bless and protect him today. Make me the wife you intended me to be for him today.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

*The above devotion is an excerpt from the book Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives (Moody Publishers 2008). Visit the Faith Deployed blog and bookstore.