Locked in a Cage…..

 

 

Ladies, would your husband describe your marriage with the words on the photo above? Do you ride the roller coaster of honoring and respecting your husband one moment only to lash out in frustration or anger at him the next? Are YOU the the proverbial ‘continual dripping’ in his life? Do you sin against him in other ways? If so, you might find this article by Jen Smidt-When You Sin Against Your Husband-helpful.

Jen is a deacon at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Wa. I like what she wrote; and ladies in Christ, I hope you will like it too, finding it helpful. The article leaves me with one additional desire, though. We need a sequel for husbands titled-When You Sin Against Your Wife.

You gotta know when to run !

A Kenny Rogers song I’ve always liked is The Gambler, about a traveler who asks advise of a poker player he meets on a train. After some preliminaries, the Gambler emphasizes one key point. He tells the traveler: You gotta know when to hold ‘em, you gotta know when to fold ‘em, you gotta know when to walk away, you gotta know when to run, you never count your money when you’re sitttin at the table, they’ll be time enough for countin’, when the dealins done”

I’ve always thought this was great advise, applicable in many areas of life, especially the part about knowing when to hold ‘em versus what to walk or run away from. And one of the situations Christian singles will hopefully run away from is a potential marriage partner who doesn’t follow Jesus.

Some of the most difficult marriage counseling situations I have ever encountered over my years pastoring at West Hills Morgan Hill have been those where one spouse loves Jesus and the other didn’t. And the reason is simple. Our spiritual lives and loyalties motivate us from the core of our being. So when our core values are incompatible with those of our spouses, there is always pressure, friction, sparks, disconnect, and this leads to great frustration in homes and marriages, while leaving the Christian partner with no escape route, barring adultery on the part of the spouse or abandonment. And often, this brings great misery-a quiet desparation-to those involved.

So, how does a single Christian girl or guy avoid a marriage unequally yoked? Three ways:

1st, listen to Paul’s instruction to marry, but only in the Lord;

2nd, listen to the voices of those who are unequally yoked. For more on this, see Kathy Keller’s blog post ‘Don’t Take it From Me…..

3rd, simply listen to the Gambler, and R……U……N from a potential partner who doesn’t follow Jesus but who wants to pursue you, girls. And guys, pursue only girls who love Jesus like you do.