Marriage: A Refining Process

Marriage is the biggest refining process I have been through so far in my life. It has been an incredible adventure with the love of my life and my best friend, and it has also been a growing and stretching process along the way. I have been confronted with the ugliness of my own sin like never before. I have seen my desperate need for my Savior. I recently finished the book, When Sinners Say I Do, which I would definitely recommend to any married or soon-to-be-married couple! I hope to write more just on the book later, but this statement really stuck out to me and is so true: "Your spouse was a strategic choice made by a wise and loving God. Selected by Him, for you, from the beginning of the world, your spouse is an essential part of God's rescue mission for your life. Often a spouse plays his or her part by raising the engine temperature and heating the oil. But if we're wisely honest we will realize that God is behind it all, revealing the familiar sin so that it might be overcome by amazing grace" (Dave Harvey). Wow! Why do I so often get frustrated with my husband when it is really just my own sin and flesh that is being stirred up?! I have never known and experienced grace more since I have been married either.  Just today, my husband sent me a simple, but profound text message with 4 simple words: "I still love you!" Despite my struggles and my sin, I am still so loved! That is a beautiful picture of the Gospel of grace, because when I am confronted with my own sin, I can hear my Father say, "And still, I love you." Marriage is an incredible process that God allows in our lives to bring us closer to Him and make us more like Him. I was just talking with someone yesterday who reminded me that in marriage, God is entrusting our hearts to each other for this time on earth, but our spouse is ultimately God's son or daughter. What an incredible gift and big responsibility God gives us. My prayer is that I love my husband well and that loving him ultimately brings glory to God. So, is my marriage an absolute adventure, one of the best things about my life, an overwhelming love relationship, and an incredible gift? Absolutely! Is it perfect? Not even close! Am I continually falling into the arms of grace and thanking God for an incredible husband to do life with? Of course :)