Posted in Spiritual Revelations from Our Awesome God

I spent most of 2008 separated from my husband due to military obligations. Praise the Lord that we have finally been reuinted as a family! The children and I were able to move to Alabama in December to be with hubby. We are ecstatic!

I have recently learned something from this experience. I spent about a month cleaning out and packing up our home before hubby flew to Michigan to get us. We then spent a couple weeks getting settled in our new home. During this moving process, I let my devotion time slide. It was a rare occasion that I spent any time alone with the Lord or reading His word. In the last week or so I've been struggling with issues of faith: Does God really hear me? Do I really hear Him? Will He still perform miracles today? Will He still heal? etc. I KNOW the answer to these questions is yes. So many times I have had my prayers answered directly, I have heard the voice of the Lord, I have felt His healing touch, I have seen Him perform miracles. Why was I questioning Him? When I prayed about this, the Lord drew a parellel for me.

My husband and I have been married for 15 years and we began dating 20 years ago. We have always been faithful to each other and have always been honest with each other. The Lord has blessed us with open and honest communication. We have confessed temptations and shortcomings to one another very freely. Yet, during our recent military separation we found ourselves doubting each other's faithfulness. We had dreams about catching one another in an affair. We questioned each other about simple conversations we'd had with members of the opposite sex. We each asked the other at some point during the year if we had "cheated." Of course, neither of us had, but I believe it was the most we'd ever doubted in the duration of our 20 year relationship.

The Lord showed me that the key to a strong and trusting relationship is positively interacting with each other every day! But it's more than just "talking." My husband and I talked every day on the phone. But we only saw each other for a few days every other month. We were lacking physical closeness. Time spent together just the two of us. Marital intimacy, yes. But also just being near each other, sitting on the couch together watching a movie, eating a meal together, going to church together, sleeping in the same bed. Not having these things caused us to doubt one another. We were still married. We were still faithful. But we had no way of knowing that the other was.

In the same way, not spending time alone with God every day in devotion caused me to doubt Him. I need that daily time alone with Him. I need that time to physically separate myself from everyone and everything else in my life and just be with God. I need to praise Him, pray to Him, read His word, ask Him to teach me from His word, and listen for Him to speak to my heart. Lord, help me to be faithful to my devotion time! Thank you for continually teaching me and growing me.

If necessary, make a new committment to your devotion time starting today! God bless you!