Low Hanging Nutrition To Heal The Heart Of A Wife In A Neurodiverse Marriage

This summer I planted a pole bean in the garden for the first time. Only one seed came up, but wow did it produce! It grew up the trellis and eventually found the nearby arched trellis and wrapped up around that. Every morning I stand under the trellis and with very little effort, I reach up and pick a delightful amount of beans. I don’t have to bend over, rather I almost have to duck - they almost smack me in the face. There have been so many beans! 

Low hanging fruit is such a delight. Isaiah 26:3 is one such verse to offer you lovely low hanging nutrition for your soul. “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because [s]he trusts in You.”

Let’s squeeze out some truth nutrition from this verse;

The word mind is the Hebrew word; ‘yeser’ and it means imagination; to form and create.  

The word steadfast is the Hebrew word; 'samak', and it means to lean, lay, rest, support; to establish.

The term perfect peace is the Hebrew term; 'salom' (shalom) and it means completeness, soundness, welfare, peace.

The word trusts is the Hebrew word; 'batah' and it means to have confidence in, to be bold, to be secure.'

Rewriting Isaiah 26:3 with Hebrew origin of intent;

“The steadfast of mind The imagination of those who depend and rest on You will experience wholeness, void of anxiety in perfect peace, because her confidence in [s]he trusts God gives her boldness to live in freedom.’

So let’s paraphrase Isaiah 26:3 this way;

A wife in a neurodiverse marriage can rest in the Heavenly Father’s goodness, establishing a sound mind by using her divine imagination to see what heaven is up to. Heaven’s origin for her is wholeness of heart and joyful confidence, as she vibrantly journeys in her gifting. Those around her are cross-pollinated with heaven’s truth that she carries. 

The gift of our divine imagination is to be used to see what heaven is up to! Ephesians 2:6 tells us that there is a part of us that is seated in heaven! “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”.

Back when my heart was first being healed in 2017, I decided I didn’t want to live like I’d been living any more. I wanted to see and hear who God said I was. Previously I had reached a point in my neurodiverse marriage where I felt like the crumpled woman in the corner. I was barely surviving. But I began to see myself as Wonder Woman - a woman who ‘wondered’ about God…and I began to experience His love in a tangible way! It didn’t stop there! Eventually I dared to begin hoping that God could turn my husband’s non-empathetic response into amazing growth of new neural pathways that could give him a theory of mind, to understand my and others' perspectives. I went from surviving to thriving. If you would like to explore this yourself, here is something to try;

The following is an activation to help you absorb this verse’s nutritional truth for you personally: 

Get quiet and ask God to turn on a movie in your thoughts and show you what His desire is for you and your family. How can heaven break into your neurodiverse culture? Picture yourself leaning into, resting on the Heavenly Father within heaven’s movie theatre. Let Him offer you absolute peace. Grow confident as you ‘see’ what He is up to. Sketch out what you see and journal about it. 

Linger until peace comes. If you feel resistance, ask; ‘Who am I leaning into, God or my own understanding?’ Turn off the chatter-clatter of lies. Rest and relax into Him.  

Shalom, shalom my friend!