appointment has overwhelmed you . How will you possibly have a great party when all you want to do is cry ?
You find yourself having to apologize to everyone for the spouse ’ s inability to make the party , you encourage them all to enjoy the food , and you do your very best to smile through the remainder of the evening . Holding back the tears , your conversations are short and sweet . You can hardly adapt to what is going on around you because you are fighting off the need to be angry , but you make it through to the end of the party , you thank everyone for coming and tell them that you hope they all had fun . You close the door behind the last guest as the tears finally burst forth , because you can no longer hold them back .
You know in your heart that you can ’ t wait to see your spouse once again , as you are always so glad when they return home , however , you are beginning to become extremely weary of the fact that they are staying gone so much now . In the beginning their job was just a day gone here and a day gone there . It was no big deal and easy to handle , but now the days are running together and becoming weeks at the time . This was not what you bargained for , but you love your spouse so much and you just want to be supportive of what they have to do . So you begin to pray that God will make a way for your family so that your spouse doesn ’ t have to spend so much time away from home . “ Surely ”, you think to yourself , “ There must be a better way for us to make this life happen without being apart so much .” You walk through the house and look at the decorations , but have no heart to worry with them tonight , so you gently turn out the light and walk down the long hallway to your room . Once again , you will climb into that very large , lonely bed all by yourself .
In one sense , absence does make the heart feel love . It doesn ’ t necessarily grow fonder , however , because it brings a certain amount of grief . It ’ s not good for a heart to yearn for the one that it loves at a distance for very long . The feeling that we have when seeing our spouse after a time of absence should always be a wonderful time and a desirous experience , however , when this absence takes place too often , the one left alone begins to acquire feelings of distrust , discouragement , abandonment , loneliness , and so many other emotions that will overwhelm the lonely heart .
We like to say that absence makes the heart grow fonder , but in actuality this is a myth . Absence after a prolonged period or done too often creates more of a burden for a relationship than anything else . When God created Adam , he saw that Adam needed a companion . His word says in Genesis 2:18 , “ And the Lord God said , It is not good that the man should be alone ; I will make him an help meet for him .” God then created Eve . He never intended for us to be alone , not even for short periods of time because he knows the mischief of a lonely heart . Humanity needs love and companionship and they were never supposed to spend their lives apart from one another . This is most definitely the case with married couples . Married couples have to be extremely careful how much time alone they spend , especially younger couples , because sexual temptation is everywhere , and too much time away from home becomes a problem for both the one left at home and the one away .
PROLONGED PERIODS OF SEPARATION
Being apart from a spouse is a very dangerous temptation that is placed upon both partners . A yearning heart is not a good thing at any time . Married couples are not intended to have to yearn for each other , so when put in this position it can bring about many problems . Couples who are away from each other for prolonged periods of time will begin to lose faith in the spouse ’ s true intentions . Once jealousy sets in , the mind will begin to work overtime and before the spouse has a chance to defend themselves , the lonely one will have a complete affair going on . Arguments come about because of the distrust that is waning with the lonely heart . The traveling spouse has probably actually been in some very compromising positions that they had to work through as well , and stand in no position to argue . The unfortunate thing is that if the separations are not limited , then eventually one or both spouses may give in to the temptation of being with someone else simply to fulfill the need for a companion .