"Other couples still have passion and romance; our marriage is just managing decline and routines."
How it sounds in your head: I see friends posting date nights, renewing vows, talking about their spouse with genuine affection. We're cordial roommates managing schedules and avoiding conflict. The fire is gone and comparing us to them just confirms we settled into slow death.
"Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.'"
-- Ezekiel 37:5Enemy's tactic to use other marriages as evidence yours is beyond revival—makes intimacy about comparison instead of covenant.
The empty nest exposed what kids' activities were covering—silence, distance, unfamiliarity. You've watched her change and you've changed, and the couple you see in the mirror doesn't match the highlight reels of others' relationships.
Their marriage was decades past passion—Sarah's womb was dead, Abraham was 99, and they laughed at the idea of intimacy producing life. In one divine moment God reversed biological death, restored desire, and gave them the son of promise—best wine came last, not first.
I REFUSE the lie that other couples' romance proves my marriage is dead or beyond restoration. IT IS WRITTEN that God breathes on dry bones and they LIVE—not gradually revive, but suddenly resurrect. My covenant with her isn't measured against someone's anniversary post or date night photo. The same God who gave Abraham and Sarah passion and fruitfulness at 90+ can restore fire to what feels cold. IT IS WRITTEN that Jesus saves the best wine for last. Our latter glory will exceed our former because God specializes in resurrection, not just resuscitation. I am the head and not the tail—our marriage leads, it doesn't follow others' timelines.
The Father isn't comparing your marriage to others' carefully curated moments or waiting for you both to get it together. He's running toward you with resurrection breath for what feels dead—best wine comes last, and your second-half romance will outshine your honeymoon.