Nahum 1:7 - Summer of Scripture

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Welcome to Summer of Scripture on the Naked marriage podcast. For 66 days in a row, we're releasing a short daily devotional for your marriage. Over these 66 days, we'll be sharing one scripture from each of the 66 books of the Bible and talking about how it applies to your life and marriage. Listen to all 66 episodes of these and you'll have a better understanding of God's Word and His perfect plan for your marriage. Let's dive in to today's Scripture.

Welcome to day 34. We're in the book of Nahum. He's one of the minor prophets. You know, the Bible, it's got history, it's got prophecy, it's got poetry, it's got lots of different stuff. And there are major prophets, guys like Isaiah and Jeremiah, that we've already talked about them. But then it's got these prophets that wrote much shorter, smaller books, and Nahum is one of those. And the verse we're going to look at today is Nahum, chapter 1, verse 7, which says, the Lord is good, a strong refuge when troubles come. He is close to those who trust in him. And that's an encouraging verse. And I think it's just a beautiful reminder that God is our refuge, he is our security, he's our safety. And when troubles come. It doesn't say if troubles come because troubles are going to come. Jesus promised this. He said, in this life you will have trouble. But take heart, I've overcome the world. And what we do when trouble comes is a defining aspect of our lives and of our marriages. Where do we turn for comfort? You know? And I think when trouble comes, first off, know that it's gonna come at some point and decide in advance how you're gonna respond when it does. Trust God when it does.

Man, we really can't emphasize that enough because, you know, we've been married 22 years, like we've mentioned on here many times, and we've definitely had seasons where trouble, you know, we were experiencing trouble. And I think sometimes you can bring that on yourself. But I would say even more than that, it's Just life, an imperfect world where stuff happens, you know, and you get a diagnosis. Finances don't go the way you thought, you know, gosh, 2020. Like, who saw that coming? Who knew we'd be in a global pandemic? You know, I mean, I remember we were living in Texas at the time, and all of a sudden I'm seeing people wear masks at the Kroger grocery store. And then we're like, informed that they don't even have enough masks, you know, because the other parts of the world had already gotten masks. I say masks so weird. Plurally.

Anyway, thankfully, we don't have to say it much anymore.

I know, I know. But they were like making hand towel masks for themselves. And so we had a Texas hand towel. Do you remember this?

Yeah.

And I, like, got thread and made ourselves a little mask because we're like, oh, my gosh, we don't know what this is. And so, you know, the uncertainty, we get it. We all are still in that aftermath. We get that trouble comes. But what we don't often get is that that's when we need to go to our knees. And if we're already in the daily practice of surrendering our lives to Christ, of praying, of getting in the Word, when the trouble comes, we're not as shaken by it, right? Because we're on the solid Roc of Jesus Christ. But if we're not in that practice and all of a sudden we're like, what? I wasn't equipped for this. I don't know where this is coming from, then it feels overwhelming. We feel like we're going to get overtaken by it. And that's why it's so important that we always turn to God. And I think too, not turn against each other. Because whenever trouble comes, sometimes we want to find someone to blame. And as married people, we tend to wanna end up blaming our spouse for it. Right? Like, if only you had done this, or if only, you know, you didn't do this or whatever it is, maybe we wouldn't be in this predicament. And sometimes, I mean, maybe we're right, but pointing that out doesn't always necessarily help anything. So it's like, let's not go against each other. Let's be for each other and know that we're a team. And let's really get on our knees together and lean on each other and lean on the Lord and trust that he is our refuge. And I love that picture of refuge. Because, you know, when I think about refuge, I think about a place of safety. I Think about, where do I go when I know that I'm going to be safe? I'm also going to be provided for. I'm gonna have needs met. That's God, you know, that's what God does.

So good. So good.

So good.

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He really does. And when the troubles come, you can have peace in that. You know, whether it's. There's no diagnosis a doctor could give you where you can't have peace in it. You know, he says, yes, you have cancer, you have this, you have that. Sure. That's devastating news.

Oh, yeah.

But it doesn't have to rip our peace away because we know, you know what? God is with me. He is for me. He's going to carry me through this. You know, I remember, gosh, we've had so many times, big and little, through the years, where there have been bad news, there have been troubles, struggles, unexpected things. One day I got something in the mail years ago from the irs and we owed all of this money. This is back when I was doing taxes on my own and really had no idea what I was doing. And we had some just weird income sort of stuff, and it didn't really fit into the normal brackets. And I had just totally botched our taxes and we owed all this money.

That we did not have.

That we did not have. And I felt like an idiot. I was so stressed, and I'm like, I don't know what we're gonna do. I was a picture and like IRS agents gonna drop through the ceiling and haul me off to prison. And I opened that. I was just so devastated by it. And Ashley, in that moment, just came in and was so reassuring and just saying, like, listen, God is gonna get us through this.

Well, I mean, you want me to be really honest about that moment?

Yeah.

I found you in our walk in closet and I was like on your knees. Like, you might have been crying. I mean, I think you just felt like a failure. Like, I just sensed on you, you may not have had actual tears, but you were broken.

Me, I needed a moment away from everybody.

Well. And I just. I could just see, like, I just had never seen you like that at that point in our marriage? Like, I'd not seen that. And I was like, oh, my gosh. And you were already on your knees, and I think I joined you on your. We were both on our knees. And I think in that moment, we did pray like we were, because we really had no idea what we were going to do. And thankfully, it wasn't easy, but God got us through it.

Yeah, he did. He made a way. And then we had an accountant do them from then on.

Yes.

And we have an accountant till this day.

Right. And, yeah, I was too cheap before, and now it's like, hey, that's money well spent.

We're like, we don't want a letter like that ever again.

Right? So. But whatever. Bad news, because all of us are just one text, one call, one mailbox trip away from potentially devastating bad news. But when trouble comes, just know that God's with you. He's for you, and he's going to carry you through it. So if you're facing trouble right now, which really all of us are to varying degrees, just remind yourself, God is with me in this. He is for my marriage, he is for us, and he's going to carry us through. And I hope that simple reminder encourages you today. Thanks so much for tuning in, guys. We'll see you tomorrow. Day 35, as we continue on with the minor prophets.