Avoiding the doldrums in marriage

Sun, 15 Jul 2018

‘And, behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah.’ Genesis 26:8 NASB

Back in the days when wooden ships depended on the wind to drive them, sailors had much to be concerned about: pirates, storms, and diseases. But often their greatest fear was ‘the doldrums’—an area near the equator characterised by calm and very light shifting winds. It could mean the death of the entire crew. The ship’s food and water supply would be depleted as they drifted for days, or even weeks, waiting for a breeze to put them back on course. We talk about something ‘taking the wind out of our sails’, meaning we’ve lost our momentum and we need something to get us back on course again. Your marriage doesn’t lose its momentum overnight, but over months and years of insensitivity and neglect. But it doesn’t have to be that way for you. Author Doug Fields in his book, Creative Romance, writes: ‘Romancing your spouse can change those patterns, and it can be a lot of fun. There’s no quick fix to a stagnant marriage, of course, but you can lay aside the excuses and begin to date your sweetheart again.’ God brought this charge against the church at Ephesus: ‘You have left your first love.’ (Revelation 2:4 NKJV) Then He told them how to remedy it: ‘Repent and do the first works.’ (Revelation 2:5 NKJV) Fearing King Abimelech would kill him and take his wife Rebekah, Isaac lied and said she was his sister. What gave him away? King Abimelech looked out a window, and, ‘Behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah.’ Romance saved his life and his marriage, and it can do the same for yours.