What Makes a Marriage Strong

We’ve had a great first fifteen years together! We have a life I never dreamed possible … both us of are blessed to be able to pursue the jobs and dreams we love, we have a daughter who brings a joy into our home we could never have imagined, our families are a blessing and constant encouragement in our lives, and our friends are absolutely incredible!   Sometimes I look around and find myself unable to put the words together to thank God for all the abundance He has given us.

But we’ve walked together a often rugged path over the past fifteen years.

We’ve buried three great-grandmothers, one grandmother, and Scott’s dad.

We’ve lived nine hours from his family and eighteen from mine for over ten years.

We’ve faced a life-threatening illness and days when life as we knew it was revealed as more fragile than we’d ever dreamed.

We’ve ministered through difficult periods in the lives of those we love and in painful times of our own.

We’ve been scared, felt alone, and wondered if we understood God’s plan for our life at all.

We’ve been frustrated, annoyed, and angry at others … and even sometimes at each other.

But in fifteen years, I’ve found these things to be true:

It is in the darkest times of life that we can most clearly see The Light.

It is in the weakest moments of the heart that Christ becomes our Strength.

It is in the sorrow we cannot put words around that we learn the compassion of our Comforter.

It is in the daily living that we grasp the truth of Immanuel, God WITH us.

Strong marriages are forced to weather storms, face down fears, and work through doubts and frustrations. When the foundation of matrimony is shaken to its core, only the strong remain. But that strength is not our own … for it is a gift of grace and faith given from God.

Time and again the verses below have been my refuge in Scripture … and as I look at my marriage, fifteen years and counting, my prayer is that these simple truths will grow and strengthen in our life together.

He only is my Rock and my Salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.  On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.  Trust Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before; God is a refuge for us.  Selah  {Psalm 62:6-8 NASB}

Thank you, Father, for my marriage … for the love You have generously bestowed to us and for the grace You give us to grow in love for one another.   May we today and always remember You are the rock and salvation of our lives … May be not be shaken by the trials and temptations of this world.   We pray that our marriage point only to Your glory and that we will rest, in all things, at all times, in You.   Cause us to trust You – always – and draw us ever closer to You as we long to grow closer to one another.   In Jesus’ sweet name, Amen.

What verses have become especially meaningful to you in your marriage?