Greetings Prayer Warriors,
Those who have been married for some time remember the more traditional wedding vows. They were a commitment, an aspiration as to the kind of spouse you would be. One could hardly fathom the negative halves of those vows, let alone how difficult it would be if you were called to actually execute upon them.
I take you…
To have and to hold, from this day forward
For better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health,
To love and to cherish, until death do us part.
One learns in time that when and if their spouse has annoying habits, finances are tight, or illness or disability enters in, that love is a choice, and love is an action, not a feeling.
We marry for the “better”, but can find ourselves confronting the “worse”.
Anger is cruel, and wrath overwhelming, but before jealousy who can stand? Better is an open rebuke than a love that remains hidden. Proverbs 27:4-5
Sometimes one learns that they were happier with less money, for having wealth can bring its own challenges and doesn’t ensure happiness or holiness.
For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Rev. 3:17
Other times we learn the “sickness” we are called to attend to is not a physical one, but a spiritual one.
“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” Luke 5:31-32
Lord, we are confident in our need for the copious prayers of others! Hear our collective prayers as we lift up one another and those we love to receive your extraordinary graces. When we don’t feel like loving, may your love stream through us. When we struggle to care for a sick spouse, increase our compassion and strengthen our perseverance. When we have difficulty seeing the good in our spouse, lend us your eyes to see them as you see them. Help us to turn away from vice and embrace the virtue-building factory that marriage is! Have mercy on the marriages struggling the most, removing despair and replacing it with hope. Hear the groanings in our hearts that can't find the words. Bless us and embrace us, as we trust in your never-ending support. Amen.
Peace, Joy, and Love,
Janet
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