Chapter 19

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” 

John 15:5

David

It is often said that marriage is most tested when a family grows. Blending, bending, curving and compromise can sometimes be painful and tiring. Laying down self-driven priorities for the benefit of the family unit may be our honest desire, but its not always easy… 

Throw a baby into the mix and before you know it, destructive storm clouds roll in and how quickly we forget that having a family was the sweetest answer to our heart’s prayer.

I have learned that marriage, and everything else, is at its hardest when our eyes stray from the source of truth that holds us accountable. This slippery slope sometimes creeps up so slowly and before we know it, we’ve made a blunder of things and can’t even fathom how we got there. 

I am reminded of Paul’s solemn words in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” So many times have I thought these very words and stood astounded at my own thoughts or actions. 

Learning to be a godly husband and father was much harder than I thought it would be. The notion of it being something that would come ‘naturally,’ was quickly dispelled as reality set in and I found myself drifting, in spite of every good intension. 

Distractions come quick and easy when your heart is open to them and they steal precious moments that pass you by like vapors in the wind. They plant seeds of discontent in your spirit and whisper untruths that pull you further away from joy and into an abyss that seeks to consume everything that holds real value. 

Thinking back now, it seems unfathomable that I could have found myself on such a road all those years ago. After all, I knew and loved Jesus…I had dreamed of having my own family and loved my wife and daughter fiercely.  

Those things may all have been so, but the honest truth was that I had taken my eyes off the daily pursuit of God’s voice and in doing so, opened my heart to all the other voices that offered nothing in return and stole my peace, one distraction at a time. 

Thankfully, we serve a God that pursues us with reckless abandon. He walked me through the fire and called me back into grace with overwhelming love and forgiveness. Though there where many tears and a painful process of breaking, building and restoration, I had learned perhaps the most important lesson I ever would.

In John 15:5 Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” These words are the most profoundly defining truth of my walk with the Lord, through all the seasons of my life. It was carved deeply into my heart through the wandering times and has called me back to the mercy seat, at the foot of the cross, again and again and again… 

How stunningly overwhelming is His redemptive compassion for us all. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom3:23). Yet, arms stretched wide He receives us home and with unshakable love forever calls us His own.