“Sometimes I just feel so alone.”
As the words left my mouth, the weight of them nearly crushed me. Married life had been less than stellar, and I was weary of carrying on the “good fight.”
Add to that fact the isolation that often accompanies marriage problems (because after all, it’s embarrassing to admit you’re struggling, right?), and the loneliness seemed unbearable.
My natural tendency in times like these is to hunker down, hole up, hide away – that’s probably true for any introvert, but I now recognize that this tendency to retreat often leads me to be alone with my thoughts and worries – a dangerous place for any struggling wife to be, introvert or not.
Are you a wife who feels alone?
Sometimes other women ask me what I found most helpful during the dark years of our marriage, and I can honestly say that when I started to realize how NOT alone I was, I began to take heart!
Yet I often hear other women confessing that same struggle. They, too, feel alone in their marriage struggles.
I’m convinced it is one of Satan’s greatest weapons against Christian marriages today. With his persistent voice, he whispers lies like:
Your marriage problems are unique. No one else understands.
It’s because you lack faith – that’s why your marriage is struggling. Something must be wrong with you.
You’re not a good enough wife. You just need to try harder to be the perfect wife, and then your husband will love you like you want.
And perhaps worst of all he puts the final nail in the coffin of our hope – If you tell anyone else, they’ll know what a failure you are, and your husband’s reputation will be ruined.
You see, friend, if he can convince you to hide your pain and suffering, to keep your mouth shut, he can keep you from the hope and joy you are desperately searching for!
When women begin to realize that others out there have lived through and survived (or even thrived) through marriages that fell apart, they see that with God anything is possible. What a blow to the Enemy!
My friend, if you are a lonely wife who is hesitant to let anyone in, know that the truth is you are far from alone!
The God of the universe, your Creator, is with you.
And along with Him, you have thousands of sisters-in-Christ who are standing ground, fighting for their marriages, too.
How might your perspective change if you quit believing the Enemy’s lies and began instead to believe God’s truth?
- Would believing that God isn’t finished working in your or in your marriage give you strength to persevere?
- Would believing that He has your best interest at heart give you hope when all hope seems lost?
- Would trusting in God’s providence and protection keep you secure?
No marriage is perfect – how can the union of two flawed sinners possibly be? The tactics Satan uses now are the same he used even as far back in the Garden of Eden – anything he can do to separate husband and wife from each other and from God.
He specializes in crafting believable lies meant to lead us away from God’s truth one step of doubt at a time.
Whether you’re experiencing a true marital crisis or just struggling through the loneliness that often follows even a brief disagreement, you have a choice to make.
Truth or lie.
Hope or despair.
Joy or sorrow.
As a follower of Christ, filled by the Holy Spirit and fully equipped for every good work, you have the power to choose!
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)
Sweet wife who feels alone, let me offer you some very practical hope.
I’m thrilled to tell you about an important event taking place all month long, (especially since it’s FREE – my favorite!).
During the month of July, you can learn from and be encouraged by other wives through the FREE Joy in Marriage Event, hosted by my friend and fellow marriage blogger, Tiffany at Hope and Joy in Christ.
Tiffany has organized 31 days of marriage encouragement, including daily devotional posts, GIVEAWAYS (over $16,000 of faith resources!!), and even a digital swag bag for those who RSVP on her site!
In addition, as a sponsor for this event, Unveiled Wife has offered a FREE book for each writer who is participating to give away to readers – amazing, right?!
So, first, you need to enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a copy.
Then, trek on over to Tiffany’s place to grab your swag bag and enter more giveaways. (Keep an eye out for Hope for the Hurting Wife while you’re there because Rebekah and I are both contributing a copy!). Every day, Tiffany will be sharing a post from a different blogger related to joy in marriage – how encouraging! 🙂
Finally, please help us spread the word about this event to your friends, family, church family, neighbors – anyone who will listen – so that YOU can be a part of encouraging other wives, too.
Let’s not allow the Enemy to keep us isolated and alone any longer!
No one needs to be a wife who feels alone!
Jen 🙂
