Here at Happier Husband we don’t shy away from the tough topics. But today it’s just a simple question. If marriage is God’s plan then why is marriage so hard?

You’ve Seen It in Others

In your circle of friends and family I’m sure you know couples who are struggling with communication, finances, different opinions, control, personality conflicts and other areas. You also likely know divorced couples who started out beautifully and you would have bet were perfect candidates for a life-long union.

You May Have Experienced it Yourself

Some things you cannot change. The behavior and actions of others, issues related to weather, mechanical failures, job losses, certain health problems and many other events have the potential to affect a marriage. Beyond what we cannot change our own thoughts, words and actions have either positive or negative impacts on our marital union.

But What is the Big Issue?

Society teaches us that marriage is supposed to be hard.  Society teaches us that marriage is supposed to be hard. Click To Tweet The trail of broken families we know or even possibly coming from one ourselves leads us to believe that all marriages are hard. Even Christian leaders and Christian pop culture seem to make the same case.

What Do We Expect?

One of the truths of life is that in areas where we have any control we don’t get what we want, we get what we expect. In fact marriage isn’t hard by nature. In many cases marriage is hard because we expect it to be hard. In many cases marriage is hard because we expect it to be hard. Click To Tweet If I expect marriage to be easier then there is a great chance that is WILL get easier. There will still be events that occur that are beyond the control of either my lovely wife or me…but by changing my expectations I will also change my behavior. Most of what makes marriage hard is self inflicted. Most of what makes marriage hard is self inflicted. Click To Tweet Removing my own negative input will go a long way to make marriage easier and happier…for both of us.

In Summary

In life we usually don’t get what we want, we get what we expect. If we expect to have a wonderfully happy marriage then it’s very likely that will be the case..even the difficult times will be better. Let’s close this out with words from the apostle Paul:

“Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see.”
-Hebrews 11:1

Love you all!

-Troy