3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Let me tell you a story of a broken heart - I hope this encourages someone out here.
This is the story of a girl, we would call her Beloved. Beloved grew up in a wonderful family and knew Christ at an early age. She just LOVED God. Her life was all about Him. She was such a �John the beloved�. It was a love dependency on the father, so palpable � she has many experiences of His presence and His voice. She was nothing without Christ. He was her very best friend and they communed like real physical friends. She also was blessed! Never had to study to make the grades and boy, did she make the grades! She was always favored in her ways. She dreamt answers to exams ahead! She just knew things!
Her parents strictness coupled with her love for Christ kept her from teen vices. She (and in fact her 3 other married siblings) all married as virgins! Her family was close knit and successful. Everyone was born-again.
Beloved never had a boyfriend. She waited patiently on God to lead her to the one God had for her � which He did. God led her to a man of much less substance than she. He claimed he was led of God as well. Despite the social status and financial differences, she gladly embraced him as a gift from God and poured all her love on him. She gave him her all. She literally took him from the miry clay and set him on high places. After all, this was her 1st experiment at love and she had to please God 100% in it!
Well, God�s plans never changes but sometimes God changes players! Saul once was chosen by God and rejected by God.
Beloved�s husband strayed. He was emotionally absent, abusive, and out of connection with Christ. There were hints of a gay relationship and then full blown adultery. He left the home. Beloved�s life was shattered completely. Her heart was broken, seemingly beyond repairs. Who on earth would imagine that Beloved, who had lived such a perfect, error free, pain free life, would now become a single mom completely shattered!
Beloved almost lost her mind. She was on the verge of being suicidal but for her love for her little girl.
She was at odds with God blaming him for the wrong choice in marriage. After all, if she had chosen herself, she would have made a better choice than God did for her and saved herself so much heart ache.
Then � God led Beloved to a Bill Johnson meeting � www.bjm.org where she was thoroughly healed and set free! Yeah, she found out that all the while, the devil had her at odds with God and in unbelief so as to cheat her of a bright future. Bill preached from Matthew 11 � �Blessed is he who is not offended in me�. If you were John the Baptist, would you not be offended? After all, Christ began his ministry saying he came to set ALL captives free. So why is John in Jail and Christ wouldn�t even visit him. The same Christ that said we should visit the imprisoned? What a mystery.
She still did not understand the circumstances but her eyes were opened. God is a good God. he is so good he does not have evil to give. His very nature is GOOD! So how does a good God allow such evil? We are in a fallen world and He has special ways to take our points of loss and make it our biggest breakthroughs in life! We do see in part and understand in part. It is ok to live in mystery for once God can trust you with mystery, you are ready for his greatest depths of revelation.
So Beloved got healed. Healed of her anger with God. so healed she was able to forgive her husband, who by the way, shortly after filed for divorce! By this time, she was so healed that despite the disappointment of receiving a divorce letter seemingly in answer to her relentless prayers for reconciliation, she was not disappointed with God. She knew this was all part of His plan as he can take whatever we are dealt, and create shining diamonds thereof!
I know so much because I am Beloved and this is my story the last 5 years.
�But! My heart is healed and free! I am eager to love again. Like I said, God�s plans and promises never changes but sometimes God changes players! Sometimes we have to give him back the dreams he gave us � as Abraham did � only to find it again in greater measures.
So if your heart is broken, please receive God�s love. I know what it�s like, I have been there. It�s the darkest depth but you can come out with your head held high!
dear beloved, i am very sorry to hear of your bad run there. so glad you have healed.. i tell ya lots of times we blame GOD for our own choices.. theres one thing weve learnt from our bibles is this.. if something is truely from GOD or of GOD.. GIVEN TO YOU,, and you are following the WILL OF GOD for you, then it will always work out great.. it wont falter.. when you finally choose that right one from GOD. theyll be with you till death ..
" when you finally choose that right one from GOD. theyll be with you till death .. "
is true except that we live in a fallen world and people can turn away from God regardless of how well they started off.
I am not a prophet of doom and I agree that when God gives you a partner, you should be one untill death - Physical death except Spiritual death also occurs.
No wonder scripture says "work out your salvation with fear and trembling". Any relationship or life lacking growth will decay and we must keep growing. Just like physical food - you couldnt say that you wont eat next month because you ate enough this month. it will result in death, even if the doctor just gave you the cleanest bill of health!
But, just like God's plan of redemption, the end is always more beautiful than the beginning! Jesus would not have had to come had Adam/Eve not given dominion to the enemy. His coming cost God sooo much but it was well worth it! God ALWAYS has the final say regardless of how the enemy may have interfered.
So, the #1 step arguably, is finding God's perfect will for you Then both parties must continue to seek him regularly and grow together in Him to prevent decay and death for God has given us FREE WILL!
Quote: " But, just like God's plan of redemption, the end is always more beautiful than the beginning! Jesus would not have had to come had Adam/Eve not given dominion to the enemy. His coming cost God sooo much but it was well worth it! God ALWAYS has the final say regardless of how the enemy may have interfered.So, the #1 step arguably, is finding God's perfect will for you Then both parties must continue to seek him regularly and grow together in Him to prevent decay and death for God has given us FREE WILL! "
dear beloved, i do understand what youre saying.. but my question to you is.. how many times in the bible do we see that when GOD puts HIS hand on a relationship and puts a man and a woman together for HIS will... how many times do we see them fail? as in the case of rebeka and issiac, the servent asked GOD to show him which one was to be for issiac .. and im thinkin also boaz and ruth..
now my ole memory aint so good no more. so there could be one that didnt work im forgetting.. but im of a firm belief that when GOD puts you together itll always work.. but i mean its gotta be GODS doing and not our thinkin its GODS doing.
Ouch! Thanks for sharing B'loved. I hear so many sad stories like yours, and frankly - for one looking to be married, these stories have always intimidated me.
ian777 , outside of Christ, I can see how one should be intimidated by bad experiences, but in CHRIST we have HOPE and fulfillment of the promise that "that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" Romans 8.
So dear brother, my advice - focus on God. He's got your back.
PS: I don�t consider stories like mine 'sad' because it''s just a chapter and not the full story. God, my father, is the referee and he won�t blow the whistle until I win in alignment with my destiny in Christ :-). Think about this - those three days between Jesus' death and resurrection were sad, right? Nope! Because now we know the full story and understand that God had the final say! "None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" 1Cor 2
Long story short, walking with God takes FAITH in ALL areas of life. Not just marital decisions but ALL areas. Otherwise, there is an opportunity for a 'sad' story in every life arena that can keep you from enjoying the destiny God has for you. Take the jump, brother, God is looking out for you. Take the jump UNDER HIS GUIDANCE and with complete TRUST in him!
All the best as you walk the walk of faith. Its so much worth it! I'm loving it :) Abraham had no clue the lamb was walking up the hill on the other side when he was walking up to sacrifice his solo promise from God. FAITH!!! God has you covered. You may not see the why's of your adverse circumstances now but God DOES HAVE YOUR BACK!
Ok, I better go. I could preach a storm on this - quoting my favorite minstrel from 'down under' - Darlene Zschech.
I very much relate to your story, though, in a very different way. I was very unhappy in my life, feeling abandoned by God, the church, and my wife. My answer was to leave and to seek the pleasures of the world. Without even realizing it God brought me back, even to the place where I could ask my now exwife to remarry me. She declined. So I am seeking His will in everything.
Interesting thread, Beloved. I went into a marriage meaning every word of the vows I took (you know...the traditional ones). But I was very young and "worldly" if a 19 year old can really be worldly. I thought I knew it all because, hey, I had memorized the vows, right? I had NO idea what the bible teaches about marriage and that yes, we are to love, honor, cherish, better worse, sickness health, etc. but that my role was to be a helpmate not to run the show. My husband was raised in the church but it was not what I call a "teaching church". I don't want to say specifically what kind of church it was because I don't want to offend anyone. I was not raised in a Christian home. Anyway, we were too young, not saved, didn't know the biblical definition and true foundation for building a marriage. My husband was very laid back and seldom had an opinion so I took that and ran and was "the boss." I decided what we spent money on, where we went when we went out, when we would have children. It went on and on. It appeared that my husband didn't care or mind that I was "at the wheel" so to speak. But I think it had a great deal to do with why he left me and our three daughters. He cheated yes, but was that the only reason our marriage failed. At the time I thought so. You know love honor, cleave only unto thee? He broke "the rules"! Why I had every right to be the woman scorned and believe hell hath no vengeance like I had! It spewed out of me! There is a stage in divorce some refer to as "verbal diarrhea." This chick had it and had it bad and had it long!
Fast forward a few years. I started reading the bible. I started seeing where I was wrong. Ouch! You mean I had a part in this? You mean I was supposed to honor him as head of the household? Slowly my eyes opened. Slowly I started to take responsibility for my part in the marriage failing. His infidelity was wrong, yes. But I was "unfaithful" in that I did not honor him as head of our household. I can't quote the scripture because I'm just not good at that but I now know that marriage should be based on much more than 5-6 lines spoken before a minister.
Time has healed. My ex is now in his third marriage and it is crumbling. They are separated. I do know it was not all me but I take responsibility for my 49% :angeldevil: Sorry, Lord, I can't quite take 50% yet because he was actually the one who was "physically" unfaithful.
So Beloved, I guess my point is that you are not alone in being angry.I have learned that only when we fully trust and let Jesus take the wheel to borrow a very popular line...and STOP trying to drive all the time that we truly know what it's all about. I still try to take the wheel back and God lets me know, sometimes gently, sometimes not so much that He is in charge not me. I learn slowly but I am learning. And as I learn more I have more peace. Sitting in the passenger seat is not so bad once you get used to it. :waving:
Teri (still not "fully licensed" but working on her "learners permit")
