Love is Not Glamorous

One of my all-time favorite actresses is Audrey Hepburn. She will forever be the heralded icon of glamour, grace, and style. If someone asked me to close my eyes, and imagine someone who captured effortless elegance, she would fit perfectly into the picture frame of my mind.

I think many times, wives have a picture of what marriage should look like. Females innately desire romantic chills, the frills of comfort, and compliments. But what happens when days greet you with endless bills, broke-down cars, and complaints? Is our love a strong, unchanging force, or does it darken inside the inevitable flashes of disappointment?

I am reminded that to be loved when you feel unlovely is indeed the strongest romance. Psalm 40:2 (NIV) says, "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." I don't know about you, but I would hazard to say that a slimy, muddy pit would not be my first choice for a romantic evening out.

We look for security and safety in so many external things, but we have to remember that love itself is our firm place to stand. It is committing to stand beside someone even when it is not easy, and choosing to be there even when it seems messy and impossible.

It is during the times when we choose to hold hands during the seemingly small empty rooms of our romance, that God opens a door to what we desire so that the glamorous events in our lives take on meaning and become memories, and not just moments. Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning "the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment)." The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens. What the special meaning is depends on who is using the word. Chronos is quantitative, kairos is qualitative in nature.

Many times the enemy will tempt us to look at something only through chronological lenses. Although there may seem to be natural delay, the enemy cannot touch the clock of kairos. Kairos is that special, supernatural thing that God has promised you. Only you and your spouse know just how valuable and special that thing is. The trail of tears, the pathway of prayers, and the heart beats of anticipation replace the ticking second hand on a clock. Chronos may be erased into history, but kairos never fades.

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

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