Midlife Crisis: Support for Left Behind Spouses
Archives => Archived Topics => Topic started by: xyzcf on June 25, 2016, 07:41:27 AM
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This is something that I received today. It is from Wisdom Hunters. Applying Unchanging Truth in a Changing World, a daily devotional that I subscribe to. I almost jumped from my chair when I saw the topic of today's devotional.
Midlife crisis is NOT myth and it is recognized in various ways in our society.
Oh how I want to send this to him, to tell him, wake up silly man before it is too late. But I will not.
In my prayers for all our wayward spouses, I ask that they turn back to God and be healed.
I trust God to continue to go after his lost sheep, and bring them back to the fold.
June 25, 2016
Midlife Crisis
Midlife Crisis
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 1:2
Midlife is a natural time to do a life audit. This is the season to do a performance review of your passion and your life’s productivity. You measure how well you have amassed money and acquired assets. You grade the success of your life on your position in the work place, your educational advancement, your character development, and the quality of your relationships, especially those in your family. Midlife is a time for reflection, regrouping, and recalibrating big goals. If, by God’s grace, you have implemented His plan up until now, you look forward to what He has for you during the second half of life. But a midlife crisis comes from meaningless living. You may have drifted from what God intended for you from your youth. You scoffed at His plan and purpose and replaced it with your own.
Go back to your original God-given purpose and redirect the midlife crisis missile to keep it from crashing into your home. Revisit your God-given purpose for living. A proper purpose precludes meaningless living. Yet, every day, men and some women meander into a midlife crisis. They think it is a release from responsibility, but midlife is meant to be a time of terrific transition, not terrible torture. It is created for celebration, not regret. Midlife is meaningful if rooted in the purpose of God and a future hope in Him. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Maybe you lived the first half of your life off purpose, but you were successful by the world’s standards. You may have more wealth than you ever dreamed of, but your spouse and children do not really know you. You are relationally poor. Or maybe you have been a good Christian, but you always seem to encounter bad things. Christianity feels like a farce; it is not what was promised to you when you started out in gleeful obedience. The hardness and insensitivity of some Christians is confusing. You are ready to toss it all out the window and start over with convenient obedience and lukewarm faith. But now is not the time to bail on Divine Providence. Yes, you may be tired and even sick, but stick with your Savior.
Life will be meaningful if you travel with your Master. He may seem hard at times and distant, but He is not without meaning. Your real midlife meaning needs to come from Him, so surrender, and you will see success as God defines success. If adventure is what you crave, then pray. And if the Holy Spirit gives you the green light, then take your spouse overseas and serve the poor. Now, that’s adventure. Meaning comes from selfless living. A midlife crisis comes from selfish living. So run toward God and your family, not away from them. Make midlife your best season of life yet. Live it well driven by your God-given purpose and your future hope.
Allow your midlife crisis to draw you close to Christ. Moreover, enthusiastically embrace eternity and enjoy a midlife celebration. Meaningful! Meaningful! Life with the Lord is meaningful!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, protect me from myself, especially when I’m tempted by foolishness.
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Oh man, don't you wish you COULD send that to him??!!! :-\
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Oh how I want to send this to him, to tell him, wake up silly man before it is too late. But I will not.
Good idea.
You didnt break him and can not FIX him.
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Love it! Wish I could send it to my MLCer as well, especially given how his faith used to be so important to him pre-MLC. However, I know it would fall on deaf ears while he is in crisis. What a shame what they've done to their lives and ours.
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Oh, I agree with you all....
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thanks for sharing powerful message
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Amen. Thank you for sharing xyzcf.
Mara x
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Thank you, xyzcf! This is a positive message I really appreciate receiving today. :)
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I personally feel this applies to me as much as my exH. His actions jolted me into examining my own life. It would be nice if he could see how his actions have affected others but regardless God will use even this as part of his plan. This I do know. The hard part is trusting that everything will work out in the end.
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Trusting in God's plan is indeed difficult, especially when it doesn't seem to line up with what we want.
God could have created us so that we would always go along with His desires for us, but instead, He wants us to choose freely, and thus He gave each one of us the freedom to follow Him or not. Many who tried to follow, like the rich young man, were not able to give up what they thought would mean giving up the things that they enjoyed in life...but I have found that I give up nothing when I follow Christ.
Instead, I receive so very much, so many blessings and I am grateful...in some ways so much more aware of the beauty in the world as well as so much more aware of the pain.
I know that my husband continues to have strong faith. This to me is a positive for God will continue to speak to him as long as he is alive. God will go after his lost sheep. I also think about the prodigal son, how his father did not pursue him but instead waited patiently for his son to return home and welcomed him with wide open arms and a celebration.
As Almost there stated so well, our role is also to examine our own lives and to change, if we can, to become better people.
Hard to understand the concept of suffering, or to embrace suffering as some of the martyrs did.....but we all suffer in one way or another, that is a part of life and truly I believe that our spouses are suffering in a way that is so terrible.....that is why I will continue to preserve in prayer for him and for all our spouses to receive God's healing for themselves, for us and for our precious families.
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Thanks for sharing this Xyzcf.
I would also like to send this to my H. At one point it would have spoken to him...meant something. Amazingly, he has been able to even twist his faith and God to his point of view. It makes absolutely no sense how he can hear the same words that use to unify us and see them as support for his decisions.
It took the prodigal son being humbled to return to his father. My H is so far from humbled!!!