Have you ever lost something dear to you and thought just show up, please?
You look high and low – then look again, retracing every step and picking up every piece of paper in your path. Yet you are disappointed, distraught and even disgusted with yourself (or whomever!) for losing that precious thing in the first place.
Yea, me too.
My husband’s wedding ring seemed to be missing – again. Not the first time this year, but the second time, his wedding band was MIA. We are wedded, yet I was deeply wounded by this loss. A gulf emerged, separating the two of us.
Anger, hurt, and dismay warred within me. He remembers his watch, yet forgets ME echoed in my head. Silly, I know, yet in my mind, when he removes his wedding ring it seems to distance his heart from mine too.
Anybody else dealt with similar thoughts and feelings, for whatever reason?
Was I out of my mind to think like this? Holt loves me – and was distraught at the loss – his loss. With so much emotion at play, I had to decide to walk in wisdom. Emotionally rocked is a vulnerable place – and I do not want to put my marriage on the rocks!
Or would I line up beside him, raising hands and praising God for His faithfulness?
God kept us together through the hardest loss of all, the loss of a child, a son, our youngest one. Family is key.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:8-10 (NIV)
Does a thing – a ring – really matter? There’s a better question – where is my treasure?
Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
Truth hit me – square in the face. This is exactly where the enemy wants me – and you – to be – warring with our husbands – for whatever reason. We must choose to build bridges built on love, trust, and hope with the mighty hand of God guiding us.
So we looked again, thinking just show up, please. Seemed like nothing – except prayer and praise – would raise this thing!
God knocked on my heart early today, so up I got out of bed and down I sat to read His Word and pray His will – with a special prayer raised for revealing the wedding ring, restoring the thing that symbolizes my husband’s commitment to our marriage.
Knock, knock, Holt rapped on my door, something he seldom does when I pray. He just showed up at the door, raised his hand, revealing his ring, restored to it’s rightful place!
You know what he said?
“It just showed up on the top of my dresser,
in plain sight.”
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
Praise God! As I reflect, I see that only You, God, place that which is lost right in front of us – when we just show up in prayer and praise, trusting You to rise up when we need You.
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