Stop Scrolling and Start Believing

Do you ever feel bombarded by images of a perfect marriage? Simply scrolling down our social media feed on any given day can cause us to feel envious of posts shared showing perfect husbands and happy wives. These pictures can cause us to compare our husband or our family to our social media friends, and we may even find ourselves thinking, “Her husband bought her flowers for no reason. Why doesn’t my husband do that for me?” or “They really look like a happy family. I wish my family was happier.”

This comparison trap happened to me several years ago, and I am happy to say that I chose to unfollow some of my “friends” on social media because I grew weary of their “perfect” lives with their “perfect” families. I needed to guard my heart against unrealistic expectations for my life and my family. I am thankful to God for showing me a powerful truth: When we bite the apple of comparison, we dangerously begin to expect our husband or kids to perform or love us in certain ways, and that is downright unfair to them. Sister, let’s be honest for a moment. Most of us have certain expectations for our lives, but if these dreams and desires don’t line up with what God wants for our family, we are selling ourselves short of God’s best, and we will be sorely disappointed.

I knew I needed to stop complaining, so I began praying more fervently for my husband, and tried to stop focusing on things I wished he would change, and started looking for the good things he was doing instead. I began listening to him more and telling him how proud I was of him for something he was doing well. This really, really encouraged Randy and he even shared how much it meant to him that I was simply listening to him, instead of criticizing him for being grouchy.  During this season, I learned there is power in the thoughts we think and the words we say about our husband and kids.

I once heard a story of a woman who made a tape recording of the positive things she loved about her husband and her marriage, and played them each morning while getting ready. Her husband was also getting ready at the same time and heard these positive things said about him and their marriage.  I am sure that he must have felt cynical at first and doubted whether she meant the words that she spoke. Over time, though, their marriage got better and began to heal. Yes! Our words have power!

Today’s Scripture speaks powerfully of God’s desire for His children to live by faith. Do you ever think about what it means to live by faith? Living by faith means daily laying down our expectations for our lives and choosing to trust God and keep going, even when life gets hard.  We show our faith by the thoughts we think, the words we say, and by placing our hope and trust in God. We live by faith in our marriage when we thank God for the things that are going right, instead of grumbling about our hurts and disappointments. I challenge you to focus where you want to go in your marriage, and not where you don’t want to go. Look for the good, my friend, and you will begin to find it, and your joy will increase.

With Love,

Deb

What’s Next?

A great way to bless your husband is to pray God’s Word over your him. Here is a great printable to help you pray powerful Scriptures for your man! Print it out and keep it where you will see it often to remind you to pray. Sister, your prayers move heaven!!

“Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of his saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results.” E.M. Bounds