Do you think your marriage (or any other relationship) is over and has no hope of being put back together? Are you ready to give up and walk away? God is the God of the impossible!
Luke 1:37: For nothing will be impossible with God.
I love Ken Sande's book, The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide To Resolving Personal Conflict. One of the reasons I love this book is for all the amazing stories of how God raises relationships up from the dead and does what people thought was impossible by causing reconciliation and peace to happen in relationships where it seemed impossible. This is one of my favorite "impossible reconciliation" stories from his book:
Dear Friend,
The day I first called about Christian conciliation [counseling], I was ready to take thirty painkillers if I'd had them. I was full of anger, resentment, and hatred for what my life had become. I had reached the point where I couldn't even talk to my husband. I'm not talking about serious conversations - I couldn't even answer a simple question with a yes or no. When he entered the room, I left. When he touched me, I cringed. I felt trapped, and I would drive by apartment complexes with the idea of finding a place where the kids and I could run away and live.
This had gone on for so long that I didn't see how it could ever change. Talking to Ken was going to be my last effort to change things, but I really felt that the marriage was hopeless, and I told my husband that I wanted out.
After talking with Ken, I prayed and prayed about the biblical principles he had explained to me. I was deeply concerned about my future. I began to see that God is sovereign, and I realized my marriage was not an "accident." I also saw that I had no right to leave my husband. On a retreat God showed me through Scripture (Deut. 30:11-20; please read it) that really committing myself to my marriage was God's way. He set before me a choice - his way or my way. If I chose my own way, I was on my own.
I decided to trust God and go his way. I agreed to go with my husband to a Christian counselor. It was very hard at times. Sometimes I couldn't even talk, but we went for a few months, and things started to get better.
We were "getting along," yet I was deeply bothered by the fact that I felt no love for my husband. I no longer felt anger or hatred toward him, but there was no warmth either. Although our relationship had improved, I knew marriage had to be much more than just "getting along."
I didn't believe God had brought us through so much to leave us in a relationship that was so empty. I wanted to continue to trust the Lord and to depend on him for hope. When I looked up "hope" in my Bible concordance, I found this verse: "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Rom. 5:5). To me this verse meant that by hoping in God for my future I would not be disappointed. He would give me love for my husband. I could depend on him. I was following his way, and therefore I could trust in him to meet my needs.
And do you know what? Something absolutely amazing happened. I'm in love with my husband. I enjoy being with him. I appreciate his sense of humor. I depend on him as a friend. He's my favorite lunch date, and I find myself wanting to give him a hug and a kiss while he's watching television.
The Lord has turned around my feelings. I thank him almost every day that he didn't let me go my own way. I would have thrown away so much and never realized how God can work . . . The change in our family is truly a miracle! (Pages 70-71)
To know more about how you can have peace with God, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone.
You can see the full documentary here with a free trial.
No comments:
Post a Comment