The Deep-Rooted Marriage: A 5-Day Reading PlanSample

Day 2: Walking Through Fire Together

You are not meant to suffer alone, and neither is your spouse.

While we all are inclined to avoid our frailty and mortality, doing so will not change our nature. We are needy creatures designed to be dependent on one far mightier than us, and we live in a hurting world that is not yet redeemed.

Courageously facing hard realities such as these with your spouse will not only deepen your intimacy but also strengthen you, move you closer to God’s heart, and make room for more joy. It isn’t a question of whether you’ll suffer, but whether you’ll suffer together and with the Spirit.

Will you live out no condemnation and no abandonment to your partner?

This is a way you can be the face of God to them.

Will your heart pang on their behalf for wrongs to be made right and for their complete wholeness, redemption, and freedom to come soon?

Maybe you’ll groan with God for the more you know they’re meant for and ache for the good and beautiful he is preparing.

Will you share the weight of your partner’s dreams, knowing those pursuits are part of their unique wiring and calling?

If you do, you’ll be entering the sufferings of Jesus.

It also isn’t a question of whether you’ll die, but how you’ll spend the days you are given.

When was the last time you acknowledged that you and your spouse won’t have countless days on earth?

Try echoing the psalmist’s prayer, “Teach me to number my days” (Psalm 90:12).

Last, what would it mean for you to view life as a gift and as a chance to experience God’s goodness on earth?

Perhaps you can give and receive benedictions that point to bigger truths than any current pain—blessings of love that mock death and reflect the promise that the resurrection gets the final word. That goodness wins.

As you and your partner choose to step fully into your sorrows together now, hold on to the fact that they will last only for the night, even if the night feels incredibly long.

Immense joy will come in the morning.

And it will last forever.

Response: How can you and your spouse actively support one another through life's challenges and reflect God's love in the process?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, may your joy come to us and to our marriage and may you walk beside us through the suffering that we will endure together in this life. Amen.