"Some Things DON’T Come Easy"

A country-western songstress sings:

"If it don’t come easy,

You got to let it go,

Cause if it don’t come easy,

There’s no natural flow."

She’s right about most people’s experience of Romantic Love. The beginning of most relationships is a wonderful, easy, flowing time.

But she’s wrong about most people’s experience of the next, more difficult phase of relationship: the Power Struggle. This is a difficult and discouraging time in almost all relationships.

Most marriages don’t stay "easy" or "happily-ever-after."

And it’s dangerous to think that relationships should be easy all the time. Because if you believe, "When I find my true love, I will live happily ever after," then, at a time when you’re not happy, you could easily conclude: "He or she must not be my true love."

But you might be wrong.

There are times when we need to keep going even though it’s difficult. And times when we have to find new ways even though we’re discouraged. This is called commitment — and covenant. It’s the faith that the difficult path leads to a better time and a better place.

Difficulty and discouragement are not necessarily signs that "all is lost." Yes, sometimes difficulty suggests "we got to let it go." But other times difficulty suggests "keep on truckin’" and "perseverance furthers."

For most people, Real Love comes AFTER difficulty and discouragement, not before.