“And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession and ye shall return every man unto his family.” Leviticus 25:10
On June 2, 2022, my husband Larry and I celebrated fifty years of marriage. Just typing this seems strange to me! How did we get here so fast, and who are these strange people in the mirror? With that being said, though, I realize how blessed we are to have all these years together because one of the spouses often passes away, and the couple is unable to celebrate a golden anniversary.
We were childhood sweethearts and married as teenagers! We didn’t have a clue about what lay ahead, all we knew was that we were in love, and with the Lord’s help, we could have a wonderful life. As I reflect down through the years on what our desire was as young married, I can truly say; what a blessed life, what a wonderful and Godly man with whom I have been gifted. Larry is truly a man seeking after God’s heart; because of that, he has treated me with such love and respect all of our days.
Looking back, the first twenty-five years were so busy; those years of working, going to college, pastoring churches, helping in revivals, raising our son, mortgages, etc. Life moved quickly for sure during those times, and they were some amazing times, but if I’m honest, they were some very challenging years.
The Bible says that “Satan desires to sift you as if you were wheat.” (Luke 22:31) I didn’t really understand that scripture very much until the pressure of life began to reign down upon us around 1997. Until that point, I felt like nothing could do much harm to our life, our family, and our marriage. We were Christians, Larry was a pastor, we had a beautiful son, our health was good, we had planted, and God had blessed our efforts.
Do you remember when the question was asked? “Have thou considered my servant Job?” I felt like this was the “Job” time of our life! I was in my menopausal years, and anxiety gripped me with worry. Larry was dealing with severe depression while pastoring and completing his doctoral program. Our precious son had severe ADHD, which I believed led to his drug addiction. Because of Larry’s health, he resigned from our church with no job. I bought a business that failed. We had to sell our home and lost all our equity and our retirement to pay off our loans.
Those times were the hardest thus far of our life, and to be honest, there was time I wanted to run, I wanted to hide, but where can we go but to the Lord. These times are when the rubber hits the road; you find out what you stand on and trust that it will hold you up. Will you go with your emotions, that feeling at that moment, or will you cling to that covenant, that commitment of marriage, that says “in the good times and the bad, till death do us part.”
I am so thankful that my commitment was greater than my feelings! I think my Larry will testify to all of this, and I know in my heart how brokenhearted he was too. What we now can share is that “BUT GOD!!!” Aren’t you thankful He is always in the scenario of the “whatever’s” of our life? God is what anchored me in my commitment to my marriage and my life! He is my rock; He is what bears me up. Psalms 61:2 states,
“When my heart is overwhelmed, I run to the rock that is higher than I.”
I have come to know through these many years that marriage is a gift of opportunity to experience on earth the most intimate relationship we can have; it gives us a tiny glimpse of how Jesus loves and is totally committed to his bride, the redeemed family of God.
“As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.” Isaiah 62:5
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.” John 17:3
“That they all be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” John 17:21
Today I feel Larry and I, after 50 years of marriage, are now experiencing a time of rest in our life. There has been a lot of hard work, buying land, selling land, years of gains, years of loss, the grief of the death of our only son, but now hope and peace in what lies ahead because of Jesus, the author, and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 4:9 says:
“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. I feel the Lord gave the sabbath to the people because he knew if He did not give them a day to stop doing their work and honor him they would never trust and depend on him.”
As God’s children, we have to come to the knowledge that our labors are in vain if we do not take the time to lay them down at Jesus’ feet and rest totally in the work of salvation that he did on the cross. Jesus said, “It is finished,” and ascended to his Father in heaven. The sabbath was God’s holy day, a shadow pointing to the Holy son that was to come and bring rest to our weary soul, something the sabbath never could do eternally.
He told them to work for six days, and on the seventh, it would be a sabbath unto the Lord. It would be a day to rest from all their labors and honor him. Of course, we know they failed in that commandment and many others, which caused them to be taken captive and into bondage.
In Leviticus, chapter 25, we learn that the Lord gave the Israelites a year of Jubilee after seven sabbath years. A sabbath year is completed every seven years, so seven sabbath years would be forty-nine years. The fiftieth year (the Jubilee) was a time of celebration. In the Jubilee year, liberty was proclaimed throughout the land unto all the inhabitants.
It would be a jubilee unto them, and every man is returned unto his possession, and every slave returned unto his family. The family could redeem back the inheritance lost by a relative. What was lost was reinstated, and prisoners were now free. A year was dedicated to resting—a time not to reap or harvest. A time of restoration, recovery and a fresh start was given to the people of God. Jubilee was God’s favor on man. He wanted his people to know that the land and people all belonged to him. He alone can bring them both to rest.
I want to share today that the things we worked hard for can be taken away in a minute. People we love can die too young, Years can be good, but they can be bad; they coexist every day, but what will walk all the way with us is our faith in a God who will never leave us or forsake us. Maturity in age is bringing me more confidence in what is soon coming at the end of this life, and that will be an eternal jubilee that will never end.
Diane Mann
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#dianemannblogs