Remember, Lord, Your great mercy and love for they are from of old
Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways
According to Your love remember me, for You, Lord, are good
Psalms 25:6-7 NIV

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You have to love how transparent David is in his prayers to God..David made a habit of pouring out his heart and soul before His Almighty Father.  David was human and he made mistakes just as we do. The only thing is he had a repentful heart; and, most of the time, we are busy and forget to confess our sin.  Then it all turns to regrets, and kind of piles up into such a huge mess that we even forget where the top or bottom is.  Daily…hourly…by the minute we should bring our issues, our thoughts,  our prayers to the throne of God.  Often we need to leave them there, leave them at the foot of the Cross because He is better able to handle each of our needs, wants, and desires.

We as women are relationship-driven.  If a relationship is not going the way we want it to then we worry, stew, and fret over it. There are some we just need to drop and walk away from; and then there are some we truly need to work on…like our marriages.  Keeping God first in our life, our focus then will be our marriage, then children, then all others.  Sometimes this can become unbalanced.  When everything we do comes before God and our marriage, we need to pause and consider: What is our view of God?  Is it the relationship we had/have with our earthly father that dictates our relationship with our heavenly Father? Was our relationship strained or healthy?  Was it dysfunctional or normal?  Once we make this determination we can focus on the repair of the earthly relationship (if not too painful or is even  possible to repair) to become healthy.  Often this can be done by forgiving our earthly father  which makes a way for us to see our heavenly Father as someone different.  I, myself, often like to think of God as a loving grandfather or uncle.

As we grow and mature in our walk we often realize this.  But do not regret what life you have created for yourself—embrace the past, sort it out, but leave it in the past and move on to making a better future.  God will give us mercy for our mistakes when we ask.  Once our life and thoughts are re-aligned, we need to make peace with our spouse.  With prayer, meditation, and true repentance, God will restore to us what has been lost.  For each of us it may look different.   Just know God is a restorer and a preserver; He wants what is best for us. And there are consequences for our choices…those He cannot take away.

For those who have done their walk with God and their marriage, I commend you.  I would love to hear your secrets, your “do’s and don’ts” in marriage.  With this being the season for weddings, I am sure the newlyweds would love some inspiration, too… especially in the first few years of being married.  It is so different when you are dating and then come together to live with one another every day.  Begin each day with God in prayer and meditate on His goodness and love.  Let God be your Guide in all of your decisions; He will not lead you down the wrong path.  Be a listener to the Holy Spirit, for He is your Helper.  Ask Jesus to be your Intercessor.  You will be blessed for your efforts.

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Father, we thank You for David’s example and for his love and understanding of Your goodness and mercy.  For those who are hurting, Lord, give them peace—such a great feeling of peace to fill their soul with Your spirit.  For those who have been walking with You a long time, give them a renewing, a refreshing of their spirit.  Remove the staleness from their everyday and fill them anew.  Help us not be afraid to forgive, help us to have courage to do the hard things we need to do to have a closer walk with You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.