Out of the Ashes

When all hope is lost we must turn our eyes to the Lord.

A marriage in spiral is likened to a forest fire. Do not loose hope because God can change the circumstances at hand. As long as both parties are alive there is hope and that hope is through Jesus Christ.

Guys I hate to say it but our wives have been carrying our families through tumultuous times and this should not be. If an intruder broke into your house would you maintain your position in front of Monday Night Football being apathetic to what is going on as your wife and children are tormented? If you would answer no to this why then do you sit back finding other things to do when the enemy comes in where you should be fortifying your family by seeking God and getting into the word (putting on the armour- Ephesians 6)?

We are the first line of defense. As fire fighters try so desperately to put out a fire or at best control the situation, we need to be doing the same. If we have fallen short, do not despair for God can restore.

Look at a forest fire. After a forest fire has happened you see acres and acres decimated, charred, smoldering and what looks like a place without hope. After a few years comes new growth from the ashes, stronger more fruitful and more nourishing than what was originally there. Forest fires are a part of life burning off all of the dead brush and junk that cannot or has not been cleaned up.

Marriage is very much the same way. There are little things in our marriage that get under our skin about our spouse or our children or even our extended family from both sides. If we are not willing to clean up these issues God will do it for us. When this happens we look at it in great despair and hopelessness as if nothing can happen to restore what was lost.

Here is the truth, God is a refining fire (Proverbs 17:3). God wants to see your heart pure and sometimes that requires the stripping away of everything you think is good because He has something better. It is only after you go through the forest fires of life and stand strong will you look back and see the new grow God has in you and your marriage, your family and your relationships will look so much better than what you were living.

Reading through Job you notice he was stripped from everything; family, friends, belongings, health, marriage-everything. He had times were he was in such great despair that he was close to giving up, but remembered that his ONLY hope was in GOD alone. Many tears were shed, then you get to the last couple chapters of the book. God tells Job's friends that He would utterly destroy them if they do not repent, bring a sacrifice to Job to offer to God and ask Job to pray for them.

Something very interesting happens at this point. As Job is praying the dynamics of HIS situation changes because he pleads to God mercy over the lives of his friends. He could have so easily allowed bitterness to control the demise of his friends, but instead he allowed God to heal his heart so he could pray mercy over them and in return God blessed Job more abundantly then all he initially had for his heart was pure.

If you are going through a rough time in a relationship whether it is your marriage, children, friends, or parents pray God to have mercy on there lives. That is when God will show up in your life as in Joel 2 God will restore that which the locust or the devour has stolen from your life and bring in you new growth to finish the race strong.

CAL

The Great Divide

Blue Bell Ice Cream has an ice cream called "The Great Divide." It is half dutch chocolate and half french vanilla. Seeing an ice cream that is brought together as such is like that of marriage.

God brings two flavors together; husband and wife, which He said in Genesis 1 "It is good" (speaking about what He made). When going into marriage it is like the ice cream. Early on it is sweet and good, but as you keep eating, it starts to taste the same maybe even boring and by the time you get to eating too much you may have regrets and feel done with it. Marriage can be very much the same where if you go through the motions not savoring what God put together you may find yourself getting board, betrayed or come to the point of regrets and being done with it all.

DON'T BE DISTRACTED BY BY YOUR FEELINGS FOR WHAT GOD PUT TOGETHER! Look I know that marriage and relationships are hard, but do not doubt that which God brought together is wrong. He knows what He is doing in your life and the life of your spouse and family, don't doubt it for a second.

In the movie "War of the Roses" it starts out with a couple where things seem to be perfect, but as the movie goes on the little things start ruining the good things. One quote that Danny De Vito said in the movie was, in regards to a break down in a relationship, "It is not a matter of who wins, but how greatly you loose."

As the economy was good so also were so many marriages. Now that the economy is in the tank I have seen so many marriages and relationships just falling apart as well. I personally know at least a dozen couples or families in some stage of marital turmoil, separation or divorce. Go to the grocery store and look at the magazines, it has even touched Hollywood.

Over the next several weeks I will give some suggestions on how to survive the turmoil that awaits you if it has not already effected you and restore that which the devourer has stolen. Remember this, "What God has put together, let no one (person) separate." (Matthew 19:6). If you are ready to give up on your relationship, evaluate what you can do differently to make the situation better and try to see things from God's eyes.

CAL