Will things get better?
Have you asked the above question of yourself before, or maybe this is the question you are sitting with today, US TOO! In our marriage, we have both asked this question of and about each other. We went through a very rough season in ministry, about 11 years ago that left us wondering what was next and will we be ok. We were both in a difficult season struggling with disconnection, depression, discouragement, and a sense if either of us would ever recover. There was a moment we sat together and thought, what if the best years are behind us and this is the new normal. Separately we were hurting from what had transpired, and it was tough to see what was ahead. Will things get better?
Now, we talk about that season and refer to it as our BRUTIFUL season; it was brutal and beautiful all at the same time. God was doing something, and he was working; we couldn't see it. We could have quit thinking better was to be found somewhere else, yet we were resolute in that season that God CAN and WILL do a new thing!
Can things get better, YES! Will they change, YES! Do you need to do your part, ABSOLUTELY!
Here are a few things we learned:
Pray! Pray! Pray!
It's prayer that changes things, not our effort.
This was a moment, NOT our marriage.
We were in a season, a moment in our marriage where external pressures and significant changes were taking place. Yet, this moment did not and could not define our marriage or future. Your marriage is bigger than this moment and the moment only has the power you give it.
Better is not always best.
Sometimes better is allowing God to take us deeper into the season because He is growing and preparing us for the next season and HIS best. What if better for you today is not what you want God to do for you, in your marriage, but what He wants to do through you and your marriage. Our season, our moment, became our greatest testimony.
It may not become better soon, but what are you learning, how are you growing together, what are you being prepared for? Your better will come, and when it does, it will be God's best because you waited and trusted Him through the season.
