Practice Your Promise: For Richer, For Poorer

by Tim Walker

Despite the preparations. Despite the emergency fund. Sometimes things are just hard financially.
Married couples, you’ve most likely been there. Maybe you’ve never left.
And if you’ve been married for a while, you may have been through this time repeatedly.

Maybe it was because of a job loss.
Or just low-paying jobs.
Or a surprise home repair that was more than just a repair.
Or that decision for one of you to remain home for the kids.
Or that unpaid leave you had to take from work to care for your mom or dad.

And when it hit, you hunkered down.
You made adjustments.
You bought only the necessities.
You ate lots of sandwiches. Tons of sandwiches.

If you had them, you shuffled funds.
And you stared at that one stack of bills, the one you had no idea how you were going to pay.
But you both prayed. Separately. Together. Daily.
You asked God to help because you didn’t know what to do.

Maybe it took weeks. Months. Years for it to pass.
Maybe you’re still there.

The weight of it is constant.
And you just don’t know how to breathe.
It’s suffocating.
You.
Your marriage.

Let me provide some oxygen.
The weight of this? it doesn’t have to smother you.
I’m not saying it’s not important. Or scary.
The consequences may be terrifying.
But despite that weak and helpless feeling, you have the strength to get through this. How do I know?
Because it’s not based on your own resilience.

There’s a strength you can lean into. a strength that is bigger than you.
In Philippians 4, the apostle Paul is writing to the church in Philippi and he gives them some insight into what keeps him going.

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well feed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11-13 NIV).

You hinted at this when you said your vows. you promised “for richer, for poorer.”
You just may not have realized the depth of those words.

After all, no one wants to be poorer.
Everyone wants to be richer.
But the apostle Paul writes that in whatever situation, the heart can be content.
At peace. Trusting.

Because it’s not just a condition of your bank account.
It’s a condition of your heart.

The two of you can get through this. You have a strength that is greater than your own. Because you know there’s a limit to your strength, right? You’ve felt it.
You’ve had those “I can’t do this,” moments or “I don’t know what to do.”

But in the midst of the uncertainty, don’t lose hope.
God will give you strength.
For richer.
For poorer.

It’s His vow to you both.

 

 

Tim Walker is a husband/dad/writer/blogger (timswords.com) and editor on the MarriedPeople team.

 

 

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