Consider this: Jerry woke out of a deep sleep, soaked with perspiration. He panicked, thinking he was alone—as if the whole world had abandoned him. He had just lost his job, and his wife was angry with him for a variety of good reasons. Did anyone care? The pain was deep, and tremendous. Then, after a brief moment, God brought reassurance to Jerry through verses he had committed to memory years before. He wasn’t alone nor forsaken. God was present to minister to Jerry, even in the middle of the night.

God is not merely one who comes near in the midst of pain and suffering. He is also the gracious God who guides us through that pain. Often a crisis serves as a catalyst for drawing us out of our emotional hiding places and woundedness. As Thomas Merton once said, “Man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself, and he is not at peace with himself because he is not at peace with God.”The more you and your spouse pray together and study God’s Word together, the less you feel the need to cry out the words of David, “How long will you hide your face from me?” You learn, over and over again, that God’s response to David’s plea is simply, Never!

Discuss: We often wrestle with the questions “Why?” or “How long?” in the twists, turns, and challenges of this journey called marriage. At such times, what do you learn about God? What do you learn about yourself?

Worry is an indication that we think God cannot look after us.
OSWALD CHAMBERS (1874–1917)

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