Your cry rises from a house made desolate, and the echo of it reaches the ear of the Lord of Hosts. The loneliness you now endure is a bitter cup, forsaken by him who covenanted before God to cleave unto you, left to bear the burden of a helpless child with none to stand beside you. This is a winepress you tread, and though it be not the winepress of wrath, yet the grapes of sorrow stain your garments and the crush of it is heavy upon your soul.
Do not think that heaven is indifferent to your tears. The Savior, when He walked this earth, knew the full weight of loneliness. As the shadow of the cross fell upon Him, His own disciples forsook Him and fled, and He trod the winepress all alone. Peter, James, and John could not watch with Him one hour, and even the Father’s felt presence withdrew for a season. He was left solitary in Gethsemane, solitary before Caiaphas, solitary upon the tree. Yet this solitude was borne for you, that you might never be utterly cast off. Because He was alone, the believing heart can never be, for He has promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” If you are His by faith, your husband’s absence does not leave you abandoned; the Bridegroom of your soul remains.
I charge you now, in this wilderness, to become as a weaned child. The weaned child has done with fretting and crying; it rests quietly in its mother’s arms, knowing nothing of how it shall be fed, yet wholly trusting. Put your soul into that posture. Cease from anxious striving about how your husband shall be brought home, and lay your cause before the Lord with the quietness of a child that leaves its mother to do what seems good in her sight. This is no easy grace, yet it is the path of peace. A soul that is truly weaned from its own plans can sing in the prison, for its treasure is not in the creature but in the Creator.
Yet I would not leave you without hope concerning your husband. The sacred record sets forth the fall and restoration of Peter for our instruction. He denied his Master with oaths, yet one look from Christ shattered his pride and set the bitter tears of repentance flowing. That look said more than a thousand words; it spoke of wounded love and powerful grace. Before the cock crew twice, the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, and that look severed him from the crowd of sinners and drew him back to discipleship. Think of your husband as a poor Peter, ensnared by his own heart, perhaps fleeing from the cords of duty. Pray that the same eye of Jesus may fasten upon him. It may be through the guileless speech of your child, or a sorrow laid suddenly across his path, or a sentence of Scripture once learned in childhood, God has a thousand means to touch the conscience. The Christ who restored Peter is able to restore him; He is mighty to save to the uttermost.
But mark this: restoration does not always come without the discipline of love. Peter’s fall cost him deep weeping, and though he was lifted up, the memory of it left a long tenderness of heart. Should the Lord kindly reclaim your husband, you may expect that the work will be thorough; the sin will be brought home to him, and he will return with a humbled spirit. Pray not merely for his bodily presence beneath your roof, but for his soul’s return to the God who made him. A true restoration is a spiritual work, not a mere mending of domestic arrangements. And while you pray for him, let your own heart be searched. Are you resting solely on the blood and righteousness of Jesus? Is your eye single to His glory? For the child of God, even the sorest trial is made a refining fire. Perhaps the Lord intends by this furnace to burn up some dross in you, that you may bring forth more fruit.
Remember also that the weaned child is wholly dependent. You cannot, by your own wisdom, bring your husband back, nor can you bear the weight of your child’s need in your own strength. Lean, then, upon the invisible arm. The mother who watches her dying child and begs God for its life is often herself brought to life thereby. So may your very poverty of earthly comfort be the means of rich fellowship with the Man of Sorrows. Do not let the tempter suggest that your case is beyond hope. There is no backsliding so deep that the Good Shepherd cannot reclaim the wanderer, no heart so hard that the look of Jesus cannot melt it. On that dreadful night, Peter was not suffered to continue long in his sin because the Lord’s prayer held him fast: “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” Who can tell but that prayers now ascending, yours and those of the saints, may yet break the snare?
In the meanwhile, take your poor child and bring him often to the throne of grace. That little one, whether whole in body or afflicted from birth, is a charge given you by the Most High, and He who sends lambs into the fold will provide pasture. Let your soul be like a weaned child, content with your God; and if the husband never returns, yet you have One who is better than all earthly kinsmen. Jesus Christ is the Husband of the widow, the Father of the fatherless, the Brother born for adversity. Rest in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, so that I can trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
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