“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you."--Jeremiah 31:3(NKJV)
My family and I recently had the privilege and honor of witnessing a couple married 75 years renew their wedding vows. As I panned the room of witnesses, I saw the fruit of this couple's union--children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family, and friends. Can you imagine the history, the intimacy, the enduring love story shared between this couple? Seventy-five years is a long time!
I am sure, like anyone else, they had their share of challenges, tests, and trials. Undoubtedly there had to have been highs and lows, challenges and victories. I do not know their story, but the human experience would suggest that life is full of a myriad of experiences that shape our perspective on our world.
So, what keeps a couple together for 75 years?
Could it be that they tapped into the power of God's love? I Corinthians 13:4-5 describes love as patient, kind, not envious, not boastful or proud, rude or demanding. It is love that is benevolent and affectionate. It's love that transcends hurt, rejection, emotional distress and pain, humiliation, disappointment, discouragement, and inadequacy. It's supernatural. It's God's love. His love pursues--it is relentless and enduring.
God's love fills gaping soul wounds and brings complete and total healing. This is love on a supernatural level, yet we have been granted full and unlimited access to it. As we receive God's love, we become conduits of his love--his love is shed abroad (Romans 5:5) in our hearts and others are impacted by the experience of encountering divine love.