Trust Your Gages: Navigating Storms in Marriage (part 2)

In my last post I explained how I was flying home late one night and the foggy weather coupled with darkness made it impossible to see where the plane was landing. I got a little nervous but had to remember that the pilots have a whole suite of instruments (gages) that tell them everything they need to know for a safe landing.

Many times in our marriages we can panic as soon as storms roll in around us. If we look out the window of our marriage and only trust what we see with our eyes (our feelings of fear), we’re prone to worry about things we can’t control and make decisions that are fear based and not faith based.

We must remember to live by our gages–our faith in God and His Word–or we’re headed for a crash landing.

To summarize my last entry (feel free to read the entire post here), I discussed the following two points:

1. You have gages – God’s word is a reliable and true indicator of your reality as a believer, despite your emotional experience. This isn’t to dismiss your emotions, but rather to remind you that they aren’t the final authority and best source of peace through storms.
2. Your gages are trustworthy – How do we know God’s word is reliable? Bottom line: it takes faith. However, we have many tools (historical facts and indicators) to boost our trust in the veracity of the Bible. In lieu of explaining every detail I provided a short list of resources where you can learn more.

All of that led to my third point below. I hope you find it helpful and enriching. Again, it will make much more sense if you read the previous post; just sayin’.

3: You must actually trust your gages

Great gages do no good if we never look at them. Next time a storm hits (and long before), look!

Don’t feel like loving your husband or wife? Read about what love really is and ask Jesus to help you love more like him. (Start with Ephesians 5)

Don’t know where your next rent payment is coming from? Read about God’s perfect provision and pray for faith to trust that He is sovereign in every circumstance. Bookmark passages to build faith and go back to them over and over again. Here’s a great start:

Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

More passages: John 14:27, Matt 5:26-30, Isaiah 40: 30-31

Are you hurt and feeling insecure in your marriage? Saturate yourself in scripture and let the Holy Spirit remind you of how deeply loved and secure you are in Christ. Christ should be our anchor to reality, especially the reality of our worth and identity.

Who does Christ say you are? How does Jesus feel about YOU? Dig into your Bible to find out (yes, you do the digging instead of a devotional or instructor). How will you know what your ‘gages’ say about you unless you look at them?

Understanding your identity and worth in Christ will forever change how you deal with earthly insecurity. In fact, that is the aim of the Christian faith: discovering and understanding who you are as a result of Christ’s love absent of your own works.

I could spend the rest of my life exploring that topic alone… but I’ll leave it there. :)

Conclusion

I certainly don’t want to provide oversimplified examples or answers to whatever situation you’re in. God knows every marriage is unique and complex in its own way.

The point I’m trying to make more than anything is this: circumstances change. Emotions ebb and flow.  Both can be amazing or they can be devastating. As followers of Jesus, we don’t worship our emotions and we don’t stand in awe of our circumstances. We worship God and God alone, we stand in awe of Him only.

He, in his vast wisdom and knowledge has given us His perfect revelation called Scripture. It is His ultimate story of love and redemption.

Let God’s Word stand strong in your life when you are weak. Look to Christ in all things and align yourself with Him.

Then, trust.

May you find all security and safety in Christ alone, and may your life and marriage overflow with confidence that only comes from knowing exactly who Christ is, what he’s done, and how much he loves you.

Have you heard of the The 31-Day Pursuit Challenge?

Every marriage begins with passion, purpose, and pursuit, but few stay that way. That’s why we wrote Husband in Pursuit and Wife in Pursuit Together, they make what we’re calling the 31-Day Pursuit Challenge. Couples are encouraged take the challenge together. We’re already starting to hear stories of transformed marriages! Are you up for the challenge?