Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
The joy we find in marriage is determined by where we look for our satisfaction. When our hearts look to God as the author and perfecter of our circumstances, and we rest in the knowledge that He has purposefully chosen our spouse and our address, we are satisfied with our lives and we know joy.
The problem is our fickle hearts get captured by some desire and that’s where we end up searching for our satisfaction. Our contentment is disrupted and our goals become focused on the pursuit of that passion. It becomes the thing we imagine most, the thing we strive for, fantasize about, and desperately want for our lives. The dream takes center stage in our prayers.
When our dream becomes a demand, and then an expectation, our lives suddenly become about the fulfillment of that vision. We begin to view our desire as a need, and all of our energy becomes focused on making our dream a reality. We are no longer content with the life we have—all of our happiness becomes tied to achieving that goal.
As that dream of ours stays out of our grasp, we begin to question the goodness of God. We pray and we pray for this one thing, but it just doesn’t seem to happen. We watch it happen for other people, so we grow resentful and envious and bitter. As our dreams take a deeper foothold in our heart, God is pushed out and He is no longer where we find our Hope. He is no longer the motivating factor in our lives, and He is no longer the source of our joy.
When He is no longer our source of joy, our marriages will stumble, and eventually fail. Our disappointment at not achieving the plans we have for our lives will turn into bitter resentment and finger pointing. We will blame our spouses for standing in the way of us reaching our goal. Division enters our relationship where unity once stood, and we begin to believe it would be so much easier to accomplish our dreams outside of our marriage.
Our treasure is to be found in Him alone. We need to be constantly searching our hearts for our dreams, for where we find our joy. There is grace for our fickle hearts if we choose to lean in and allow Him to be our treasure. He is where our joy and contentment can be found, but we have to intentionally choose Him as the greatest treasure in our marriage if we want to know lasting joy.
Press on ~ you are loved 💗
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