I’ve been struggling with irritation toward my husband lately. There are reasons for this, of course. He was in the hospital for a week, and he’s cranky because he hasn’t felt well. Meanwhile, I was at home dealing with the physical and emotional needs of everyone else, so I’m exhausted. There’s also the not-minor matter of how, in times of stress, we all tend to revert to old (and usually undesirable) patterns of behavior. So old arguments tend to take on new life, and none of us are on our best behavior.
Life would be a lot easier if my spouse would change, because then I wouldn’t have to. Life would be easier if God zapped me with an infusion of patience instead of expecting me to address what is going on in my heart. Life would be easier if we didn’t have to deal with stress and complexity and exhaustion. But the one and only thing Scripture tells me is easy is the yoke of Christ. So if I want life to be easier, I guess I need to set down the prickly burden of my pride and take up the smooth yoke of humility. And maybe even say “I’m sorry” first.
