Week 218: Marriages and a Debilitating Darkness
Please
join us this week in praying for marriages in which one spouse is passing
through an unexplainable dark time that is emotionally and physically
debilitating. A large part of the difficulty of this situation is its
mysterious genesis. The fact that the cause is unknown to either spouse
can cause both to feel helpless: the afflicted spouse can feel helpless
to explain the problem and the care-giving spouse can feel helpless to provide
what is needed to relieve the suffering.
Many
times the suffering spouse can experience a palpable darkness that separates
him/her from God, spouse and friends. The suffering spouse can also
become convinced the darkness will never lift, leading to dejection and a sense
of hopelessness. As this situation lingers, the care-giving spouse can
begin to suffer as well, since his/her partner is in no position to meet
his/her needs or share in bearing the responsibilities of daily living.
Finally,
this life-situation, like many maladies of mind, body and spirit, can destroy
normal sleep patterns, inflict deep weariness and fatigue, and lead to an
almost self-perpetuating depression.
Please
pray couples in this life-situation will
- Bring the situation constantly before their Heavenly Father, praying that He will lead them to discover or reveal to them what is causing this profound darkness and how to escape it
- Not allow the darkness to cause them to doubt their Lord's sufficiency or His love for them
- Be blessed with extraordinary patience and forbearance
- Be able to get adequate sleep and mental rest
- Be surrounded by believing friends who will support them in prayer and service, even though they don’t fully understand the problem
- Not allow the crisis to damage their marriage but rather learn from it and be drawn closer together by it
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