Something Great to End With

While thinking through and writing out the bits and pieces of my mini Promises for Hurting Wives series, I came across a 3-part series that Paul Tripp had also been sharing this week. Because it is SO GOOD (aka- much better than anything I could attempt), I've decided to share the links to his 3 posts here as a conclusion to my own. I hope you will read every word of what he has written and share them with others women who need encouragement in their marriage.

Love... in a Fallen World (part 1): It's not an accident that you're conducting your marriage in this broken world. It's not an accident that you have to deal with the things you do. None of this is fate, chance, or luck. It's all a part of God's redemptive plan.

Love... for a Flawed Person (part 2): You and I just don't get to be married to someone perfect. It seems obvious enough, but many people get married with unrealistic expectations about who they're marrying. Here's the point: you both bring something into your marriage that's destructive to what a marriage needs and must do. That thing is called sin.

Love... with a Faithful God (part 3): Realistic expectations are not about hope without honesty, and they're not about honesty without hope. Realism is found at the intersection of unabashed honesty and uncompromising hope. God's Word and God's grace make both possible in your marriage.

Promises for Hurting Wives- Hope

Lamentations 3:21-24

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

In the midst of our pain and brokenness, it seems easiest to dwell on our failures. To wallow in our regret. To sink down into the pits of depression for fairytale dreams gone wrong. "But..." we don't have to stay there. "But..." there is a powerful antidote to our defeated thoughts. "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope..." What is the this that offers such hope?