“We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you — your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust. So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character.”—2 Peter 1:4-5 (The Message translation)
My whole life I had been waiting for the day that I got married. As a little girl, I played dress up and pretended that I was a beautiful bride. In high school, I was of dating age and I dated some good and not so good guys. The college years came and I thought to myself, sometime within these 4 years, I am going to find my husband. I had no reason not to think this. I mean, my parents found each other in college, and my brother found his wife in college. I dated a few guys my freshman year and after that I didn’t date anyone else throughout college. Part of me was happy because I could finish school without any distractions, but the other part of me was nervous that there was something wrong with me or I was going to end up alone for the rest of my life.
It’s not that I lost my faith in Christ during this situation, but I didn’t have my full trust in Him. I was concerned about a situation that was never in my control; however, it was in God’s hands. The Lord wanted me to have patience, which is something that I seriously lack. He made me wait until I finished college and went out on my own. I moved to Orlando, Florida to work for Walt Disney World, and what happens on the first night I moved into my apartment? I met the man who I would end up marrying. I didn’t know this at the time though, because at first, I did not like him. However, we became fast friends. We went to the theme parks, out to eat at the resort restaurants, and just spent time together. It was the best way to start our relationship—through friendship.
Fast forward to August 2013, we got married at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion. Fast forward even further to 2016, we have a beautiful daughter, and we have never been more in love with each other. Looking back on my life, I am beyond thankful and so blessed. I am glad that the Lord made me wait. In a world of constant hurry and restlessness we tend to miss many of the joys that God has for us when we don’t wait for His perfect timing.
I would like to be transparent for a moment. We love each other so much, but we do have our moments that probably are not pleasing to the Lord. We disagree over many, many things. We are not always pointed toward Christ as a couple. Here are a few goals that we have set to get ourselves back on track when we find ourselves walking in the way of the world.
- Be each other’s best friend. We share everything with each other. He tells me about how his day at work was and I tell him all the things I got done (or I didn’t get done) around the house. I love being able to just sit on the couch with him and watch random shows on television, or talking over games we’re playing. It’s so nice to have grown-up conversations with your best friend on a daily basis.
- Remind your spouse they are significant. There is a reason they are called your significant other. Having significance means that something is important or is worthy of attention. I believe that a spouse is extremely significant. My husband is deserving of my attention. I don’t want him to feel insignificant or unloved. That would just be disrespectful to him. The last thing I would ever want is for him to be resentful and angry because he felt insignificant in his marriage. Invest in each other’s significance.
- Put God first. It is amazing to see relationships that don’t keep Christ at the center. There is an evident selfishness on both sides. If your relationship is Christ-centered, the closer you grow to God, the closer you become to each other. Husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church; and wives should let their husbands lead and be the head of the household, just as Christ is the head of the church. Love Christ, love each other.
I will never take for granted what the Lord has blessed me with. I have a wonderful husband and a precious daughter who we get to teach about Christ and His love for us. God has promised, He has given (and will give), and He loves us. Let us remember who we are living for and to bring glory to His name forever.
Despite the fact that sometimes God requires that we wait patiently for the blessings He desires to give us, He is always faithful to His promises regardless of time. And, when He does bless us in His perfect timing, we are expected to treat His blessings with care and exemplify good character within our actions. Mary Liz has set goals for her marriage to ensure that she never takes God’s faithfulness to His promises for granted. This week, we challenge you to recognize where God has been faithful to His promises for you in your life and set goals for how you can maintain good character no matter the situation as you remember that He is the Giver of all good things.
