The Marriage Plateau

There are many times in life that we hit a plateau. What is a plateau? A plateau is a place of little to no change that you reach after great progress or change. You can reach a plateau countless ways in your marriage but a few I've experienced are after your marriage has undergone some great challenge or stress. It could be anything from financial changes, changes with your kids, marital problems, etc. Once the waters of life become still you go into an auto-pilot mode because the previous stress was so intense you need a break. We go into auto-pilot in order to protect ourselves but at a certain point it becomes a danger. We need to consistently be heading toward a greater marriage. The plateau becomes unhealthy when the relationship becomes stagnant. Still waters are good for a season but waters that aren't occasionally stirred become lifeless swamps. Our marriages, like any healthy relationship, need to be tended to. So how do you stir the waters of your marriage? Prayer is the first step. Pray for your marriage. Listen to God for what He has to say about your marriage and where He is leading you. Second, talk to each other about those feelings of stagnation. How has the plateau affected you? Third, take action. Make a plan to stir up the waters. This could be counseling, a marriage retreat, or scheduling time together and not just time together but intentional time. Meaning you do something to enrich your marriage whether it be reading a book together or encouraging/appreciating one another. Sometimes we mistake plateaus for something much worse. We think we have fallen out of love with one another. If you stay on the plateau long enough without addressing it, it can be dangerous. If you find yourself in that place please realize that this is TOTALLY normal. This is marriage. It goes through highs, lows and plateaus. Make it a point to pray, talk to your spouse and then take action. Don't let your marriage remain stagnant. Stir the waters, again!