Go the Distance

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)

We’ve been married 39 years, and we love each other in a deeper, more satisfying way than the day we said, “I Do”. But that love has not always come easy or without cost.

In order to truly love someone, you have to experience the deep places of pain and agitation. Times when you feel so bewildered and frustrated you could just scream. Times when you want to walk out the door and not look back. Times of great loss. Times of disagreement when the solution is cloudy and you see no resolution in sight. This is the stuff of life that God uses to mold a marriage made in heaven. Indeed, marriage will test every fiber in your spiritual fabric.

The struggle to grow a godly marriage can be downright wearisome at times. But God promises the time invested is well-worth the effort. He promises to renew our strength, to mount us up with wings like eagles, if we will commit ourselves and our marriages to Him.

It all begins with the mating ritual. The eagle is a beautiful example of lifelong commitment. In search of a worthy mate, the female eagle flies upside down to capture the eye of a prospective mate. The male eagle who will fly over the female and grip her talons, not letting go, even as she plummets toward the ground below, is the one who has proved that he will remain with her for life. As they both almost crash to the ground, the female releases her hold and flies upright. She is satisfied that her hero has risked everything to prove his love for her.

In the same way, a woman needs to know that her man will lay down his life for her if need be. And a man needs to know that his wife will surrender to his lead.

Furthermore, the eagles are equipped with a six to eight foot wingspan that enables them to fly long distances, as much as three to four thousand miles at a time. In the same way, mates need to know that the other is committed for a lifetime, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until death due them part.

Like the eagle, godly marriages go the distance. To 50 and beyond!

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What can you do today to help your marriage go the distance?