Detachment

Jason recently spent another week across the country for business.


While he was gone, I soothed the ache of missing him by devouring this book:

I've read a bunch of Gary Thomas's books and heartily recommend each one.


This devotional is a spin-off from his Sacred Marriage, an excellent read.


Mr. Thomas has a way of writing about life, marriage, and parenting in a deeply God-centered way.  Devotions for a Sacred Marriage was, like the others I've read, highly readable and thought-provoking.


It was a sweet way to meditate on my relationship with my spouse while he was away and contemplate how to honor God by growing in love for my husband.


Even in his books with "marriage" in the titles, Mr. Thomas is primarily writing about our relationship with God.  Consider these excerpts from devotion 33, entitled "Divine Detachment":


"I'm convinced one of God's purposes for marriage is to create a divine disillusionment.  He needs to bring us to the end of our belief that anyone other than God can ever fully satisfy us...


If we look to anyone other than God to meet our deepest needs, we are guaranteeing frustration...


It's somewhat healthy to feel a little disillusioned in your marriage, because it's at that point you'll realize you need to look to God for your highest joy...


So your spouse has disappointed and continues to disappoint you?  Thank God.  You're in a great place.  You're in the doorway of detachment."


Easy for me to say, right?  With a highly satisfactory spouse.


But other things in life regularly disappoint me.  My house is so frustratingly prone to the law of entropy.  Motherhood isn't always as joyous as I expected.  Summer is over.  My old companion Anxiety creeps in on me sometimes.


When the children WILL NOT STAY in bed, when the newly cleaned living room is a mess as soon as I turn around, whenever I think "If only..." about anything, I think Gary Thomas is right, God does intend to use those things to detach me from the love of this world and set my heart on things above.    


"In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."  Psalm 16:11