Luke Smallbone, one half of the Grammy-winning Christian duo For King & Country, is no stranger to struggle. The difficulties he and his wife have endured have proven to be blessings in their lives.
“I fiercely love my wife,” Smallbone told CBN News. “And a lot of that has to do with the fact that we’ve actually been through some things. We actually lived out our vows in our 20s. Not many people are saying, ‘Hey, I’ve lived out my vows in my 20s.’ They usually think that’s gonna take place in their 60s and 80s.”
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“But for us,” he continued, “living out those things has given our relationship the ability to look back and say, ‘Hey, if we went through this, why can’t we go through that?’ And I think that’s been nothing but a good thing for us.”
Smallbone’s wife, Courtney, has opened up to CBN News in the past about her intense fight with crippling anxiety and drug addiction brought on, respectively, by a rare disease diagnosis and severe morning sickness during her second pregnancy.
Thanks to her husband’s support and the Lord’s faithfulness in her life, Courtney has found healing and freedom from her addiction.
Reflecting back, Smallbone sees how God has used painful things—like the potential loss of their son—to speak to him and his wife.
“When pain comes, allow that to be an opportunity for change,” he said, sharing a lesson God has taught him over the years. “[I]f something catastrophic happened and I lose my marbles, it probably says something about me. It probably has less to do with the circumstance.”
Avoiding pain and suffering is a natural human instinct. And in Western culture, one of the ways people often try to numb or distract themselves from difficulty is by filling their calendars with things—events to busy their bodies and minds.
Over the years, though, Smallbone said he’s realized dealing with tough relational issues, rather than running from them, has proven to have the power to deepen the bond he has with Courtney.
To read the full story, visit our content partners at Faithwire.com.
Reprinted with permission from cbn.com. Copyright © 2024 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.
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