Weary of the Battle

www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/1

I confess that there are days when I just want to stay in bed, pull the covers up over my head and snuggle down, just ignoring my responsibilities and what is going on in the world. I don’t turn on the news because it’s not new and it’s rarely fair, balanced and accurate. I don’t listen to podcasters spouting their interpretation of the news, for the same reason. However, I live with a man who listens to all news, all the time and who reports to me gleefully and repeatedly throughout the day about what he heard and how he interprets it. The world is broken. The news is mostly a lie. And my husband is annoying, but I am holding on to the hope that one day God will make everything right. Does my breathing quicken and my heart speed up when my husband gives me his latest report? Unfortunately, yes, it does. Even when I tell him honestly that the news he is reporting is stressing me, he continues to report. After all, who else is going to listen to his 16 hour a day broadcast? So, I continue to fight the battle of the war of what is right (patience with my husband’s enthusiasm for the news) and what is wrong (losing my temper and telling him to go away). This is one example of a spiritual battle that I fight daily, but there are many others. Satan would love to destroy our marriage of fifty one years with constant disagreements like this one. But we have made a commitment to love each other, which means putting up with the differences we have and forgiving each other when an offense occurs. It must make Satan cringe when we go to bed together again each evening, not angry and not ready to “throw in the towel” on our relationship. The battle is real…but so is God. And since I know that God wins in the end, I will just keep fighting on His team, with the faith and assurance that this earthly battle will not last forever. (And praying that there are no newscasts in Heaven, of course.)

A Balanced Life

www.bible.com/reading-plans/11667/day/18

For many years, my priorities were out of balance. My military husband was absent frequently from our home, so the children we had became a priority over him. I was busy building my career, so that too superseded my thoughts of our marriage. It was only when I had a stroke and I recognized his loving care for me that God pointed out that Harry had been there all along, waiting for me to notice him. I think God has always been my first priority, but I confess that my husband was not in his proper place until the last ten years. We missed a lot of time together because I just didn’t make that a priority. May God redeem the time and may our years together be filled with joy, peace and love!

Love Without End

I know that my husband loves me even though he gets irritated with me sometimes. We are very different people. I am the one who wants everything in its place and calm, quiet times at home. He likes piles of things everywhere and to go and see new things. Nevertheless, we have managed to stay married for almost five decades, putting up with each other’s strange ways and loving each other in spite of it. Or maybe because of our differences? I have never been sure of that, but I am sure of his love for me.

I am equally convinced that God loves me and oftentimes, He does so in spite of me, my actions and my behavior. He loves me because He made me and knows exactly who I am and loves me anyway. That is something I can count on. I cannot see God, but I can feel His love for me each time He sends the Comforter to be with me and whisper the words from the Scripture that I need to hear at the right moment that I need it. I know that He loves me when I feel His protection all around me in scary situations. I feel His love surrounding me when I am feeling weak or tired, what I tell others is just “bone weary.” Yes, God loves me, but He also loves each of you and wants you to know it. He wants you to hold His love for you deep in your soul where it will always be with you, no matter the challenges you face in life. God is not a respecter of persons (no favoritism with Him), so His love is never-ending and unchanging for each of us. Good news! God loves me and you, sometimes in spite of us, but always because He is love!

May the Lord bless you and keep you and may His eternal love shine in your life, reaching to others who need to know that they, too, are loved!