Every now and then my husband and I need to get away to hear a word from God. We are so busy with our business, United Marriage Encounter, household chores, and writing that we leave little room left for being still and listening to our heavenly Father.
We wake up, do our devotions in the morning, and then immediately tackle the day. By the end of a day, we are so exhausted by all the chores that our minds are only on dinner and how soon we can get to bed.
This past weekend we went to another marriage retreat to fill our empty cups and pick up more ideas for our ministry. God showed up for us and spoke life into our marriage which was a blessing. He also spoke words we were not expecting.
“Spiritual warfare is closer than you think…”
Another holy echo because my husband heard the same words.
We purchased a book onsite that discussed how spiritual warfare affects your marriage. We are not unfamiliar with spiritual warfare. We see it often in our lives.
We don’t dwell on it; however, we do take it seriously and wanted to take some time to read the book together and see what God was sharing with us as a couple.
At the end of our weekend, we came home and decided to do something different. Instead of turning on the tv to watch a rerun, we sat on our couch and read our new book together. As Carl read it out loud to me, I was struck by the words. I am often so focused on the day-to-day activities I ignore the small attacks that come quietly into our marriage. Carl also realized how sneaky the enemy can be in the small things, even through family. As we read together, we had an ‘aha’ moment. We decided to become more determined to guard our marriage against the sneaky quiet attacks.
We have spent the last few days reading the book together and praying as the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to situations affecting our marriage.
This has given us a new closeness as we pray and learn as a couple. I feel grateful for this new adventure of reading together.
What are you doing to guard your marriage today?
I don’t discuss spiritual warfare often. But it does not mean it is not there. We need to protect ourselves and our relationships. The enemy would like nothing better than to implode marriages, or worse stagnate our relationship with Him. Pray together and protect yours today with the full armor of God.
Ephesians 6: 10-13
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.