'Just a Mom's' View

Remember in the Bible when God provided manna for the children of Israel? It was a direct provision of God. It was perfect – it had the perfect amount of nutrients needed to give them the strength to make their long journey and it was described as wafers made with honey. YUM! God Himself blessed them with this amazing food. At first they were incredibly thankful…but then things changed. What changed? Did the manna change? Nope. The people changed. To stop a landslide, you MUST stop the first rock. Unfortunately, the children of Israel began a fast journey down a slippery slope. Thus began the DEGRADATION of their GRATITUDE. They quit DELIGHTING in what God had given them. This lack of delighting in what they HAD left them DESIRING what they did NOT have. This then began to DISTORT their views. They began to see what they had as bad and what they did not have as good. They began to lust after different kinds of food other than what they had been provided. Once again, the manna had not changed. So they quit DELIGHTING, they began DESIRING, then their views became majorly DISTORTED, thus leading to them DESPISING what they had and the One who gave it to them! This led to the ultimate and final step. They were literally DESTROYED.

This can very appropriately be applied to MARRIAGE. So many of us have stopped DELIGHTING in the gift of a spouse that God has given us. Our spouse doesn’t even have to change. But WE change. We stop being grateful. This lack of GRATITUDE can lead to us DESIRING someone else that is NOT our spouse. Our views become DISTORTED. We begin to view the spouse we have as bad and the spouse we do NOT have as GOOD. Suddenly, whether we realize it or not, we begin to DESPISE our spouse and even sometimes the One who GAVE us our spouse. We feel embittered, unhappy and discontent. Thankfulness is a thing of the past. If left unchecked…if we do not turn around while there is time…our marriage can and will be DESTROYED. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been on this destructive path of thinking before and I never want to be there again. I want to have an attitude of GRATITUDE and DELIGHT in my husband. We are “heirs together of the grace of life”!! He is my best friend, my lover, the father of my kids, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s hilarious. 🙂 I’m so thankful to the Lord for bringing me such an awesome man to love and I never, ever want to stop being thankful for him! (Sermon outline from Dr. Scott Tewell of Rosedale Baptist in Baltimore, MD)