At the tender age of 15, I asked Christ to enter my life because I understood I did not possess the knowledge, wisdom, patience and endurance to live as well as I want to live. When I married 31 years ago, with the intention to be a happy partner for life, I again understood I could not possibly do it without Him. This approach, as a married individual, goes well beyond a simple outlook or philosophy. To ask Christ to be a part of our lives and marriages is to ask the living God Himself to participate, inter-relate, influence and bond you with your spouse on a daily basis.

How do you move to those levels with God? Some days, wondrously. I often experience those easily detectable emotional highs and surges of love when I watch my husband work within his profession or when we sneak away for a coffee date to connect with each other and build life plans. I also sense God is near when big concerns like remaining debt free while paying college tuition or being the best parents we can be to a foster child are tempered by new strategies and an illogical sense of peace. These kinds of moments in my life amaze me and my spirit soars. God possesses an intimate understanding of our circumstances and He is actively caring for us!

Then the clouds blow in. A parent is aging and sudden health issues demand you must strategize and come to consensus about living arrangements with adult siblings. A friend experiences terrible loss and you worry that you will not know how to be supportive for an untold amount of time as she works through the various stages of grief. Your child is struggling. Your cholesterol levels have soared. Your tired old car has an engine in need of an expensive overhaul. You learn 2013 will include unpaid furlough days. Perhaps you are unemployed and long for work. A health issue has stolen your ability to participate in activities that have always filled you with joy. It is during these times of great emotional stress that Christians ask for the living God to draw near. We set our alarms early and get up to pray. We complicate already busy schedules with Bible study because God’s wisdom is spoken through the Bible and through other believers. We haul ourselves out of bed on Sundays because corporate worship and prayer invites God into our presence. We volunteer and grow with inspiration.

And we look upon snow-covered Mt. Baker for a few minutes, finding calm and refuge in the utter beauty, before getting back to the business of being productive and brave.

We go to our spouses.

Let’s stop living only by natural impulse and ask God to be a spiritual reality this week as we look into the faces of our spouses, searching for the kind of love and companionship and passion needed to face our own realities. May God be direct. May He be real. May He help us live deeper and better because our spouses deserve the best in us and we cannot possible face this life of ours on our own.