Tested through Spouse

Daily Reading: Job 2:7-10

     Am I Job or his nameless wife?  Yesterday I passed the test and remained calm in midst of chaos.  It was a close call.  When my husband started ranting about problems in the past I so wanted to scream.  Yet God opened a door for me.  My husband made a statement towards the end of the evening that "If I had to put up with all you do from me, I'd leave.  You just sit there taking it all and don't say a word."
     My secret is my faith in GOD.  A few weeks ago I had gotten tired of my husband's relentless repetition about a matter that he couldn't stand.  I snapped at him and he blew up.  He didn't speak to me for almost two days.  I realized that as a Christian I have to set an example for my non Christian husband.  So yesterday, I calmly sat there listening to everything he was saying. 
     I imagine Job did the same thing when his wife told him "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"  I seriously doubt she said a mere two sentences.  In my experience,  when we get angry we don't simply state what is bothering us.  Instead, we go on relentlessly until we feel another person understands us, we convince ourself that we are justified, or we simply can not think of any other way to state our frustration. 
     If I had told my husband "You are talking like a foolish man.  Should we accept good from God and not trouble?" He most likely would have blown up even more.  I imagine that Mrs. Job could have done that.  Maybe she kept ranting about Job's misery, or maybe she listened to his wisdom and took heed of what he was saying.
     Either way we can not control how people around us act and react.  The only person we control is ourselves.  When we feel we can no longer restrain ourselves we must quickly ask God to take over.  Allow GOD to put HIS protective armor around us.  Amazingly the more my husbanded ranted last night, the more I silently prayed, the more uplifted I felt.  I went to bed last night happy to know that my faith in God and His protective armor had allowed me to weather the storm and find a safe haven in knowing He is always there.

Additional Readings: Ephesians 6:10-18 and 1 Peter 5:8-11

Looking to Man instead of GOD

Daily Reading: Deuteronomy 5:8-10

Today I was reminded of how truly fallible I am. Most of my life I jumped from relationship to relationship. I had envisioned a perfect partner for me and thought that if I found a man who had most of the qualities I could change the rest of him to be my idea of perfect for me. Every time I tried to do this I failed.

I had finally realized after many years that I could be happy to live my life without a man. I was content raising my children, going to work, and planning a life for after my children were raised. I had GOD in my life but I wasn't serving him.

Then an amazing man walked into my life. He was exactly what I was looking for; handsome, hard working, affectionate, stable, and he loved me as much as I loved him. We married and I thought everything was perfect. The problem was he didn't have Christ in his heart. Whenever a storm would come he would falter. In fact it wasn't just that he didn't have Christ in his heart, he hated GOD "If there was a GOD, I'd punch him in his face for taking my parents away."

This hatred slowly began to poison our relationship. I began to feel hatred toward the things he hated. I let his hatred seep into me.

GOD gives us wake up calls. I became sick and my mother came to aid me. She saw the emotional sickness and began visiting a church nearby my home. Her love spread to me and I realized that I was looking to my husband for support when I should have been looking to GOD.

Being married to a partner who does not share the same faith as you is very hard.  GOD wants your spouse to come to HIM in HIS time, not ours.  We can not just stand by and wait for our loved one to change.  We need to continue worshiping and praising GOD.  GOD is jealous and wants to know we put HIM above all others.  Our unsaved loved ones may be a test of GOD on us.  Will we pass the test, or will we falter and show our human fallibility, rather than allowing GOD to take control over our actions and emotions?  We must keep our eyes on GOD and allow GOD to take the reigns concerning others in our lives.