What happens if I get neglected? If I’m under appreciated? What if my love bank isn’t 100% full? If I’m not perfectly loved?

How will I act if I’m undervalued? Who will I become if I get ignored? If you make me feel invisible, how shall I respond?

What if I work hard and don’t feel appreciated? If my life is full of disappointment? What if my work is not very satisfying? If my marriage is just average? What if my spouse doesn’t know how to love me well?

These are hard emotional questions. They stir pain and disappointment. What if I didn’t get the life I wanted? These are hard realities but the next questions are even harder.

Who will I become in response to all this hurt and disappointment? How will I act? What will I do in response?

The questions of not getting what I wanted stir up old lingering pain. It is emotional hurt that has long resided in my soul. If you don’t love me well, do I then have the right to treat you poorly? Can I use my disappointment to loudly point out all your flaws? If you ignore my needs, do I get to throw big ugly fits?

Prayer

Father, You are the only constant in my life. Thank you that I can come to you daily to vent my pain. My life has been full of letdowns and disappointments. And yes, there have been moments of great joy. But, everyone I know has disappointed me, And, I don’t think that will change. Thank you that I don’t disappoint you and you don’t disappoint me. Please give me wisdom. Help me be wise in venting off my pain and disappointment. Help me see that in your presence daily, I can receive deep, abiding, soul-satisfying love. Amen.

Bible Meditations

If you are the spouse who has unmet needs, meditate on these verses.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. -John 15:4 (LSB)

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. –John 15:11 (LSB)

If you are the spouse who can’t meet the needs, mediation on this verse.
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. –John 15:13 (LSB)