"Better Or Worse"

"From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."  John 6:66

 

When I got married, I came into a covenant relationship with my husband.  There were vows that I made to him to love him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.  At the time when I made them, I never really thought about the "for worse, or poorer, or in sickness" part of the vows.  I was in love and thought that life from then on would be nothing but wonderful.  That isn't always the case.  When things don't go the way we hoped, when hardship hits, when pain comes, when your spouse disappoints you, when outside problems put a strain on your marriage, a lot of times you give up and no longer honor the vows you made.  At that point many end the marriage. 

 

I have noticed a parallel between our marriages-- especially the vows we make-- and our relationship with the Lord.  When we come to Christ and give our lives to Him, we promise to love, honor and cherish Him as long as we live.  We are so in love with Him that we don't think about ever leaving Him.  We also tend to think that coming to Him means that our lives are going to be a "bed of roses" from that point on.  We think that nothing bad will ever happen to us again.  We think that our life will be nothing but bliss from that moment on and forever. 

 

The reality is, coming to Christ does not exempt you from problems.  There will still be times of heartache, grief, temptation, suffering, afflictions and struggles.  Remember, roses have thorns.  At this point, when He doesn't meet your expectations, when difficulties come that you thought would never happen, when you feel He has let you down, when hardships that you didn't count on come, what are you going to do?  Are you going to give up and walk away from Him?  Many do.  Are you going to continue to trust Him?  Hold tight to Him?  Refuse to let Him go?  Resist the temptation to turn away from Him and return to the world?  Or will you continue to honor Him and love Him with all your heart-- in spite of the problems? 

 

Have a great day.  Life, even with Christ, is not always easy.  It doesn't always turn out the way you want.  But it is still so much better than life without Him.  So don't give up on Him.