15 in 5: Marathon Marriage

2 Timothy 4:7,8 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith...(NIV) Anyone with experience in running will tell you that a Marathon isn’t something that you casually prepare for.  You can’t be a couch potato one day and expect to lace up your tennis shoes the next and run a marathon.  If someone were crazy enough to even try that it would surely end up in pain, exhaustion and maybe even hospitalization.  Marathon runners take months, even years to prepare for one race.  Some say that if a marathon is a part time interest then you can expect to get part time results.  True, dedicated marathon runners dedicate every waking hour to developing their endurance, increasing their stamina and fueling their bodies.  Every decision they make in their daily life ties back to their success in that one race.  We all need to realize that we can’t expect to hear a series on Marriage and Families and take ourselves from being totally lax and inattentive to being the perfect relationship athlete.  The pressure that would put on our family relationships would be pretty destructive.  However, we need to start the training process.  We have to make a conscious choice to get off the relationship “couch” and take an active role in developing our marriage.  Are you taking a part time interest in your marriage but expecting lasting results?  There are so many of us who assume that after the “workout” of dating the wedding is the end of the race, but we couldn’t be more painfully wrong.  That was just the starting line; that was when the gun went off and the real race began!  Running this marriage marathon we can expect to experience pain (yes, your spouse will say and do things that hurt you), exhaustion (of course there will be days you are tired of trying), and we may even get off course (other things will distract us from each other) but this is exactly why we need to condition ourselves for these roadblocks.  If we fuel our marriage with the word of God, forgiveness, patience and understanding then we will be able to increase our endurance and press on toward the goal.  A marathon isn’t a few series of sprints where we take a break in the middle and hope for the best.  We have to set our eyes on what’s ahead.  “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal” (Henry Ford).  So, get off the couch, lace up your shoes….let’s start training for the long haul. Prayer Points: ·    ASK God if you’ve been investing part time in your marriage (relationships) and expecting full time results…listen for His answer ·    PRAY that God will show you the ways you can stop the marriage sprint and commit to the long haul ·    DO something this weekend that will be an investment in the future of your marriage ·    THANK God for helping you see your marriage through HIS eyes You are God's Best Pastor DonGibson