Isaiah 43:1-3 (NLT)
“1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.”
Anything worth having will require work. Sometimes this work is very taxing and difficult, and we are often required to put a significant amount of time into our efforts. Relationships are a prime example of this principle. You can think that you’re giving 100% in your relationship, and therefore, you think you deserve—and you expect—to receive 100% from your partner in return. The truth is that the work we put into our relationships doesn’t always yield a return on our investment in the ways we expect. If you go into a relationship not knowing this, when the going gets tough, you might make the wrong decision. You could lose something God intended you to have, or worse, you might not receive it in the first place.
In the passage of Isaiah 43:1-3, God reminded His people that He created them. It is hard to imagine that anyone would forget such a foundational reality, but we do it all the time. God reminded them that He is their Creator because we can become so engaged and engrossed with the situations of life that we lose our bearings. We will forget why we’re on the earth, and we also forget what God expects of us while we’re here. When this happens, sometimes we allow ourselves to be sidetracked by fear.
Fear can turn into things like anger, resentment, and apathy. We see this in many relationships and marriages. Whenever we turn our focus away from God, and we become so consumed with our relationships that we begin to rely on them instead of God, fear is the only alternative. Relationships fall apart very quickly when we look to them for more than what they can provide.
God reminded His people of all the things He would do for them when troubles got in their way. This allows us to know that in relationships and in life, there is going to be troubles. There will be challenges that take us into the deep waters, but God will be with us, and we will not drown. There will be troubles that take us through the fire of oppression, but God will not allow us to be burned up. God is our Sufficiency! He is our Savior! We must have confidence in this for any relationship to be successful.
I’ve witnessed the actions of many women that have such a desire to be loved that they will forgo all sense of reason for the sake of having a man pay them some attention. This is done because they are not convinced of the Father’s unconditional love. They don’t believe it is enough to fill their cups. Yes, God wants us to have companionship. If we desire to be married, we must know that He desires it more for us than we desire it for ourselves. But we can in no way have within our hearts an attitude that makes an idol out of a human being. Relationships are give-and-take, but it is God who is the glue that holds them together. The discipline of operating in this truth must be firmly in our hearts before we get married.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“When the Relationship Gets Tough” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.