Building on Solid Ground

If I haven't written this before then it's time to confess, I'm a musical nerd.  There, I said it!  Judge me all you will but I love my musicals!  I sometimes wish that life could be one big musical, but oh well.  Anyway, yesterday I was sharing in my musical nerdiness with a fellow nerd and dear friend as we watched The Last Five Years with Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.  My friend told me about it, I looked up the musical, and I got hooked!  For those who are not as nerdy as I am, this musical is about the rise and fall of a couples' relationship.  What makes it different is that the girl, Cathy, tells the story from the end of the relationship to the very beginning while the guy, Jamie, tells the story in chronological order.  They temporarily meet in the middle for a beautiful duet that features the couples' engagement and wedding.

So why am I writing about this?  Well, the relationship featured was definitely worldly, and I couldn't help but notice how the couple was founded on passion and the excitement of love.  They worshipped each other and the fact that they had each other.  They were both also very selfish, putting their own career needs over the other person.  It created such a shaky foundation that as soon as they started experiencing problems they fell apart, with Jamie eventually having affairs because he "needed love" and finally leaving Cathy.  I couldn't help but wonder, how different would this story have been if they had placed their foundation in Christ and kept the passion at bay until marriage?  Would they have made it?  I have to believe that they could have.

As a relationship starts it can be very exciting and we can become enraptured in the feelings of love and passion that come with it.  But if we fall for the lure of establishing our relationship on the feelings of love and the act of passion that can connect us all to soon then we set ourselves on very shaky ground.  I realized while listening to Pyramid by Charice that a Godly marriage and lasting relationship is held up by two people who have firmly created their foundation in Christ and seeks to build responsibly upward, helping each other become closer to God.  If even one person's foundation is not fully in Christ then the whole pyramid will tumble.  Even scientists say that passion and the wonderful feelings of love can hold up a relationship for at least 18-24 months, but after that love is about action, about sacrifice.  A conscious decision to put the other person before yourself on a daily basis.  Talk about dying to self!  This can only be done if you are firmly centered in Jesus, only he can give you the strength to do this.  And in order to have that reciprocated, you need to focus on finding someone who is doing the same thing, because they can't love you the way you truly need without Jesus.

I love these lessons because they help to prepare me for what's coming.  But they also remind me of what can happen if I choose not to obey God in this, if I seek to be worshipped and adored, if I place a relationship in a higher place than my Lord.  All of us need to consider the cost of what we are getting into.  However, do not fear if you've gotten yourself into a relationship that you realize you shouldn't be in or can't continue, or even if someone has ended a relationship with you.  God is our amazing healer and redeemer, He is more than happy to comfort you and heal your wounds and lead you down a better path!  He is so good!