FORGOTTEN WEDDING PROMISES

By Angeline M Duran Santiago

Each one of us is on our own journey. The journey of the heart is not an easy one. The heart, or I'd say, our emotions, our spirit, can at times be easily hurt, offended, misunderstood, and too oftentimes tramples upon without a second thought.

My own journey has brought me to places where I didn't want to continue walking on the path when I found myself lost in the brambles, surrounded by trees that hid the sunlight, and where my reality had now become painful. It is in relationships, often when we truly want to honor the one we are with, but more than anything to honor the Lord, that we find ourselves in a place we never asked to be taken to. We're picked up by the winds that come to knock us down and dropped off in a place where the promises we once smiled and spoke so tenderly become raspy and grinding sounds that create a heartache that at times we can't even cry over.

I spoke to my husband about sharing before I wrote and he was completely at peace with what I wanted to share. As we sat together in the car today, we thought over the years we have lost in our journey together because we couldn't appreciate on another the way we should. We allowed lies and shame to separate us. We allowed our paths to take on their own selfish ambitions and at times we walked serving the Lord together, hand in hand, praying and growing in Christ together, and other times, we allowed the rocks, the holes and the storm in the journey to shake our foundation instead of bringing us closer to one another.

We spoke about how much we've missed truly knowing each other the way God had intended the day we made a promise before the Lord, to honor one another and love another, but always, with the Lord as first and center in our hearts. So much wasted time. So many misunderstandings and times of holding our hurts inside instead of being able to talk and run into one another in an embrace of forgiveness and crying out to God. So many times we even attempted, still, it seemed that instead of growing as one, we grew apart.

My friends and family, I share because perhaps many of you have found yourself in this same path. Maybe you are here today, hurting and angry because there are forgotten wedding promises that need to be brought before the Lord and renewed so that there can be restoration and healing. God is able to do so much when we surrender our marriages to Him.

Are you ready to let the Lord break what you thought was whole, fine and complete? Are you ready to allow your marriage to be in God's hands and not in your own? Sitting with my husband today, we laughed as we agreed that we have been foolish to not have seen the doors that were opened to the Enemy of our Souls. Satan is out to deceive, destroy and consume family relationships, starting with marriage.

So, what do you do if you find yourself in this journey where marriage vows have been broken and forgotten? Make a decision. Believe God can do anything and then walk together into a new covenant before the Lord in the privacy of one another's company. You will cry. We've had to allow ourselves to be broken before the Lord and one another, something that was very hard for me to do. I wanted to be strong but God is the only strong one in our midst. He breaks our pride, crushes our hardness of heart and tells us that if we want to be healed, we need to allow His love and grace to make us new. And, oh, we know the image of the Potter with the Clay Pot in his hands, breaking it and making it over. So, the Lord will do with our lives if we ask Him to.

Forgotten. Promises can be forgotten. We can write new ones. This time, guided by the Lord and relying not on our recipe for joy, but God's guarantee that if our foundation is His Word, the storms will come but not knock us down.  And you know what, it's not about the promises we make to one another on an altar or in the privacy of our homes. I will choose to honor my God and if my heart is to worship and honor the God who has done nothing but love me, I will take Him at His word, trust Him and follow after Him. I will want to live according to His word and in doing so, when the temptation comes, I can walk away, when the seduction comes, I can run away, when the confusion comes, I can have enough confidence in God and in my spouse, that I can turn to them and say, "Let's pray! This is where I am being harassed by the devil. This is where I am being pushed into darkness. This is where my battle is real!" Together you come against the Enemy and pray, fight, battle it out in Jesus name and stand together according to Ephesians 6.

There is victory for your marriage!
There is triumph if you say God is the Head and not just something or someone to talk to on Sundays. God is interested in relationships because He wants to fellowship with us as well.

As we shared our regrets and our sorrows, we shared the renewed joy that God has graciously poured into our lives. It is not easy. When you close the door to the Enemy and choose God, choose to walk in Christ, the devil doesn't walk away quickly or forever. But, if you know the recipe for success, then you will not stop using it.

Pray together.
No lies. Talk to each other about everything.
There is no shame, no fear, and nothing to hide from one another.
Pray about everything.
Read God's Word together and have conversations about God's Word and how to apply it in your relationship, your finances, your family and home.
Pray over your children.
Hug one another.
Forgive, Forgive and Forgive.
Make a decision to please and honor God.
Make prayer and the Word a priority.
Turn off that TV.
If someone is trying to grab your attention sexually, don't hide it, tell your husband or wife and pray together.
Tell the devil to get the heck out and apply the blood of Jesus upon your marriage.
Honor God on your marriage bed.
Honor God in your conversation.
Go out on dates together, even coffee time.
Hug one another before night time, morning, and everywhere, especially in front of others. 
Share Christ with others.

That's it. For now. 
Frankie and I will be celebrating 25 years of marriage in August 2015. Our journey together has had all kinds of roads, paths and experiences. We are here, stronger and happier than our first years together because we have purposed to seek and serve the Lord more than ever before. There is power in the name of Jesus and I pray your marriage and home can find that journey into newness and freedom in the Lord, as well.

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