God’s Advice For Wives Shembull

Lighten His Load 

Many marriages today are running on empty. Finding tangible ways to help our husbands guard against overload is a good place to get fierce with our role as helpers. 

Rest is one way to help our husbands (and all of us, for that matter) be their best. Today’s world is busy, noisy, and draining. We need to lighten up and enjoy our marriages, not just endure them.

Just how tired are you? And how tired is your husband? Do you ever take a vacation? And are you getting enough sleep? 

Did you know that sleep deprivation makes us more prone to accidents, weight gain, diabetes, and even heart disease? Researchers tell us that people now fantasize about sleep more than sex. It would seem that the average person today is very, very tired.

But it’s hard to help my husband rest if I’m exhausted myself. I’ve had to ask myself how effective I am at finding rest for my own soul. I can’t give away what I don’t have.

Even the ways we try to rest don’t really rest us. Sometimes we drift into addictive or numbing behaviors that deaden our senses rather than rest our souls. Too much social media, work, alcohol, or exercise leads you to work harder, run faster, climb higher, grow richer, get thinner, and accomplish more, but leaves little time for resting your soul.

Do you long to do more than just damage control to manage the swirl of life? We have to get to the root of the problem if we truly want to lighten our load and guard our marriage against exhaustion. I try to help David read his emotional and physical energy gauges, and he helps me read mine. I’ve noticed that most of our arguments spring up when we’re both exhausted. 

It’s been said that “fatigue makes cowards of us all.” I believe this applies to marriage as well. When husbands and wives are exhausted and our faith becomes weak, we’re left vulnerable to enemies from within and without.

Don’t you wish we had a warning system that would alert us when we begin to drift into patterns of living that are dangerous to our soul? Overload is that signal. Be alert to it and ready to lighten the load.

  

• Remember that rest is a command (Exodus 20:8-11). Ask your husband: What helps you slow down and rest? (Even simple answers—like “a nap”—are fine!) 
• Do you have a weekly day of rest? How can you create a day of rest together? 
• Consider the promise found in Matthew 6:33. How could trusting in this promise and cultivating contentment honor your husband and lighten his load?
• What are some things you and your husband could do to lighten up, enjoy your marriage, and find real rest for your souls?