LOVE'S FRICTION

"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” - Chinese Proverb

James 1:2-4 (ISV)
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

Today's opening quote strikes a chord in me because it reminds me of so many things. I want you to see your relationship/marriage as the gem being talked about. If a gem must shine as it ought, it would have to experience some form of friction. We live in a world and in an age where many people have unrealistic expectations. So many do not know that is is normal for anything of value to be tried and so they misinterpret trials as signs that God is not with them. Almost nothing could be further from the truth. Your relationship is like a house built on a foundation. The Bible tells us that both the house built on a rock and that built on the sand faced winds and storms but that the one built on the rock didn't crash. Many relationships have crashed not necessarily because of the winds and storms but because the foundation wasn't deep. Such relationships rose up quickly and failed to make the rock their base. The problem was not the storm.

Trials are normal. God even tells us to expect them. When gold is tried in the fire, it comes out even brighter. The fire burns away all that should not be there and leaves the true lustre and substance of the gold. In the same way, when your relationship goes through times of trials that test your resolve and your bond, understand that all these are just meant to make the relationship better. If you moved because God led you, if your relationship was built on God's Word, then have no fears and refuse to entertain doubts. Keep your peace. In that relationship your faith will be tested. You said he was the one; you said she was the one, that your resolve will be tested and tried. That persuasion will be examined by trials. The very roots of that relationship will be tested. The trails may come from your partner/spouse in the form of certain unexpected comments, attitudes, behaviors etc, or may arise from situations you didn't see coming. What will happen to your marriage/relationship when it's tested? Will it crash or will it stand? Will you break faith or will you keep saying what you said from the very beginning? Will your vision change or will you change the circumstances?

I know someone is thinking deep. Now what should you do when you're tested? The Bible says you should endure. To endure means to continue or carry on, despite obstacles or hardships. It is to tolerate or put up with something unpleasant; to last, to remain firm, as under trial or suffering; to suffer patiently or without yielding; to bear up under adversity; to hold out. Now all these are straight from the dictionary. God's Word says we should allow the trials and tests that come our way produce endurance. Endurance is something missing in the lives of many people today. They do not know how to endure and as a result, they live lives unstable as water. The Bible tells us to allow endurance do its full work in us. So, endurance has a work to accomplish in our lives. We ought to allow it do its perfect work in us so that we'll become mature, complete and in no respect deficient.

Endurance can bring us to the point where we're not deficient in any area. It's clear from the Bible text that the maturity of an individual who is in a marriage/relationship has a lot to do with their endurance. The maturity of a marriage has a lot to do with the capacity to endure that each spouse has built into themselves. So, let me ask you, are you mature? In other words what I'm asking is, do you endure? One characteristic of people of faith is that they endure. It's my prayer that we'll begin to see our trials differently and that we'll use them as opportunities to develop our maturity. It's my prayer that the frictions your relationship/marriage faces will make you better and stronger.

Keep Loving, Keep Living...............LOVE ISSUES
@Bibilovejunkie