Slow Fade

I like that song that has been playing a lot lately…..”be careful little eyes what you see” I think it’s called Slow Fade by Casting Crowns.

It’s a great message to us all…We never think that we’ve compromised when we are in the middle of our compromise. We tend to justify our decisions.

Picture something so typical in our walk with the Lord… Like the young married couple that has been praying for a financial blessing. Then the Lord answers their prayers and the husband gets a new promotion! They rejoice and praise the Lord….5 or 10 or 15 or 20 years down the road…..the couple is struggling to keep their marriage from ending. Why?

The song says:Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

Too many people begin telling him how awesome he is and what great ideas he has...
Too many people telling her how beautiful she is....

The money was great….it changed his focus…the husband began enjoying his job and needed to keep up with it. He begins to travel extensively, he begins to have a little cocktail or wine every now and then…. Of course this is really no big deal...but it is exactly how a compromise begins. Its something you've never done before because of your beliefs and all of a sudden its ok... He is finally seeing what the world has to offer. The job takes him to long weekends and then he begins missing church on Sundays….but he is doing it for the future of his family. The world is an exciting place and all that is within it. Ambition is a dangerous field for the young and old.

The wife feels neglected…alone…doing all the raising of the children. Bitterness seeps in. She spends nights asking the Lord to change her husband’s heart. She sees his coldness, she feels the gap in their relationship….she tries harder each time to please him but his focus is no longer on her or their children..it’s in making money for their future. He has changed…so then she begins to change. She begins spending the money and going out with her friends more consistently...spending less time doing her bible studies and praying. All the while saying to herself "I'll show him!"

The dreams they always had of the big house, the nice car, the nice trips… they finally accomplished...but it is all now being divided up in divorce court. Somehow their strong beliefs did not make it to this point. They were lost gradually...

The song says: “It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

I know what I’m talking about….it’s a choice. We could have been that couple many years ago...but we made some tough choices and ones that many people would not understand til this day. We chose the path less taken. We chose our walk with the Lord….

The couple that chose the path that I’ve described above, obviously made the wrong choice. They were our friends...

The song says: It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day