You may have noticed that my post called, "I've asked God for a Mate - Where is he/she/" was littered with spelling and typ-O's. I apologize.
While posting I got a phone call from a lady I know named Lynnie. She has been an an abusive marriage for nearly 25 years...the sweetest person in the world who learned from the old school church that the "wife is supposed to sanctify" the husband...She was taught there are only a couple reasons divorce are and option and unfortunately that erroneous teaching has pushed her to the edge of either being taking her own life or apparently having it taken from her.
Please, please intercede for Lynnie a Spirit filled, albeit misled christian who thinks God intends for her to be a punching bag. Please pray that God will put a hedge of protection about her. Pray that God will let HIS mind be in her complete with wisdom to know that nothing - NOTHING should come between a human and his/her creator. NOTHING. Please pray that Lynnie will understand that God laid out very specific parameters for honoring marriage including adultery and submitting to a man who is in turn SUBMITTED TO CHRIST
Elisee - I'm praying hard. How ironic that this woman and I share the same name (spelled a little differently) and the same background. Although I didn't put up with it for 25 years, I do know what it feels like to be hit, downtrodden, trapped, and hanging on for dear life.
We all know first hand that God protects us, strengthens us, and loves us - and how does he do this? Many times (a lot of the time) through others. Through us. Through you.
She has undoubtedly been praying about this - looking for help - looking for hope. God has put you in her path. I realize I'm like a rock skipping across the surface of the water and not really knowing all that is going on beneath, but I have to tell you - get her out of there. She's confiding in you for a reason - this is her cry for help (believe me, I know this).
Do you know the pastor of her church? Talk to him - let him know what's going on. Is there a woman's shelter she could go to (or friends - or family)? Have you called the police and told them that she is being abused and is in fear for her life? Let them know that she is afraid to report it - it may not do any good right away, but they do keep records of these things - if she ends up in the ER for a broken wrist, they are more likely to question her husband.
If she makes any comments to you at all about suicide - I know it's hard - but CALL SOMEONE. Get her help right away - don't spend the rest of your life wishing you had.
The God that loves me enough to know the number of hairs on my head did NOT want me to stay in a relationship where those hairs were being used to force my head back to get a blow to the cheek. My marriage was not ordained by God and I'm guessing hers wasn't either.
I know you simply asked us to pray and I'm sorry for going on and on....if there is ANYTHING I can do, please, please, let me know.
Wow - thanks for sharing Lynne. I'm sure there's others on here who will hopefully read what you wrote and take some lessons to heart. I just want to say "Ouch." That's rough.
Thanks guys for continuing to pray for Lynnie...it has been and continues to be "a situation" right? But we know that God is able and so I ask only that you keep her name on your lips and when you remember - pray. It is hard for women who have only known one man since high school and who have eroded self esteem to see another way. It never helps when ignorance from the pulpit prevails and her only "outlet" (love of the only church shes ever known) teaches for her to leave is tantamount to sin. Lynnie is a good person who truly loves God. Every blue moon she lifts the shroud of secrecy and reaches out beyond her demonic husband and misguided church family for help. When she does I not only feel honored that God chose me for her to confide in but stand ready - strong in the power of HIS might!
What I want you to know about me in this situation is this - and I do not say it as a question but rather a statement: God chose me for this because I am equipped in the natural but MORE IMPORTANTLY in the Spiritual (capital S). Everything I have ever done professionally and educationlly has put me in this position and I give ALL HONOR TO CHRIST JESUS MY LORD!
Please do not write to me concerning fear, safety or wisdom - my life is hid with Christ in God. I ask only that you stand in agreement and continue to remember Lynnie in your prayers. My background and training is perhaps quite different from many of yours but this is not about me it is about LYNNIE and GODS PLAN for her!
I don't want anyone to be sidetracked with the statements made here. Please just understand:
Spiritual warfare is my thing and I take Gods word literally.
I asked you to stand with me if you feel the same way:
One of us can and will put 10,000 to flight
If you own a Jesus switch and want to spank the devil - come on for the ride!
We are more than conquerers THRU CHRIST our Lord
The battle is the Lords and in that HE died once HE died for all
Do you see where I'm going with this? In other words I thank God thru Jesus Christ for you - my family, that you are praying for this situation. I am making a distinction by calling on all of you who are warriors in the army of God.
This Lynnie situation requires a wink from God to be resolved. I am hopeful that those of you who eat Spritual wheaties are interceding because God can and will do anything but fail. I'm giving HIM a praise report right now! And I tell you now in the name of Jesus this situation is not just going to be resolved, but God is going to turn what the devil meant for evil into good for Lynnie. This is not the first time Lynnie has called on me and BELIEVE me if I were walking of my own accord and without being a vessel of God I would absolutely be afraid...truth is: I've been thru some things in life that I pray some will never go thru but they were events and situations to train me just for this job. IT IS NOT I BUT CHRIST THAT LIVETH IN ME THE HOPE OF GLORY!
Ever look back over your life and see how it comes together and finally makes since after all? I never fully understood my professional training choices or experences in life but thats another story. All I'm saying is CHRIST JESUS is the answer, Lynnies protection and I am reminded of a scripture that says for me to live is Christ for me to die is great gain! God delivered me from fear when I was but a child of 11.
I came from a home where my dad was abusive to my mother. I've seen it up close and personal and I remember saying to myself when I was five: Dads a bully.
Now Lynnie has called on me several times over the years. Once she called me crying on her couch and I was 30 minutes away...I prayed in the Spirit all the way...my natural self wanted to shred this man from limb to limb because of the anger residue that rises in me from my childhood. By the time I got to her front door and walked in without knocking God was all over me. This man had Lynnie and her two small children hemmed up on a couch daring them to move! For a moment a flashback to fear as a child rose up but before I knew it I was face to face and toe to toe with this (excuse me but I call em like I see em sometimes and God probably would prefer that I didn't- but Hes still working with me on that, k?) butt. I saw evil in his eyes and he kept coming at me but it was like an invisible shield was around me...he was frustrated and going around and around me. I knew he was angry that I burst into his domain but I didn't care. I knew the only thing that stood between me and him was Christ. I told all of them to get up and get in my car - the kids did but poor Lynnie didn't she was too scared. I told the kids to get in the car and locked the door. The calvary showed up and they ain't nothin' like our saviour ...let me tell the truth and shame the devil!
Another time when Lynnie called she had been locked in the house for a week from the inside and the calvary showed up with guns ready to do business. Not God's way believe me.
When the calvary shows up I leave because its not my way of doing things and I believe the annointing that rests on my life is because I honor Gods way and not that of the calvary.
The last time Lynnie called me, God told me to pick up two rocks and give them to her persecutor...sounds crazy I know, but places I've been? Nothing is crazy when God tells you to act in faith. I don't know what the deal is with the rocks - is it a Bible story does anyone know? I don't know...I just did what HE told me to do. I gave him the rocks and he put them in his pocket and started acting like everything was fine. Me and Lynnie just walked off.
Now you probably have some questions: Whose the Calvary? Why would anyone go to these lengths for a woman who obviously is too stupid to leave this man? Why do I espouse faith in God yet vascillate between human anger and Godly obedience? The answer is very simple:
Lynnie is my precious own beloved sister who grew up in the same messed up house I did. In the natural I would give my life for her, in the Spiritual God already gave His. I get torn wanting to "take this guy out" in the natural but knowing that I am called unto righteousness and obedient (so far) to what God is trying to do with Lynnie (liberate her in HIM). I'm also a former law enforcement officer with plenty of friends on the force.
The "Calvary" four (4) bad-behind, and UNSAVED brothers who do not play. I work hard to present Christ to them because they need to see Christ too! But lets face it, God knows brothers and sisters are close and we feel one another's pain! We live in a robe of flesh and it gets riled up...Still I strive to represent Christ to my brothers because they need HIM as we all do...When they come, I leave cause I don't want to get caught up in a web other than a Godly one! Feel me? Finally, my sister is not stupid. She is 53 years old and married her high school sweet heart at 18 who has managed to steal her self esteem and everything else from her to the point where she feels hopeless and attends a church where they teach her to stay.
Now having shared my heart with you total strangers out there I have a question and a request but only for those of you who are strong in the Lord and Spiritually equipped to do battle:
Comment: I stand on Gods word and in the power of HIS might expecting nothing short of yet another miracle, my life is replete with many...what is one more? Is there anything too hard for God?
Question: Will you stand with me and pray for Lynnie, her husband and my crazy butt brothers? We all need more of Christ and they all need to confess him as Lord - including her abuser....Jesus came not to save the righteous but those that are lost. He didn't die for just the right fighters, HE died for the scourge of the earth and for my brother in law. Pray for Lynnie to find peace in God ok? That God will restore her self confidence enough. Don't worry about my safety for my life is hid with Christ in God which means I don't have an identity (a drop of water into a glass) unless and until I peek out from under the blood which is possible in this situation because of my love for big Sis who changed my diapers and carried me around when my own father acted a zip dang fool soOOO many years ago. Besides for me to live is Christ and to die - right - great gain.. My soul is anchored in the Lord and if I were afraid of the devil I would have been done a Looooong time ago!
Love to my family Elise!
Ps: Our mother was a woman of God and an evangelist, I followed after her in the Spiritual, my sister followed after her in the natural by choosing an abuser. My mom's generation didn't leave men that often, but know what they did do? Prayed. I'm not saying anything spooky spiritual here but I will say this: When my three sisters (including Lynnie) and I got together one night we prayed this prayer:
God save our father and make him do right and if he won't do right then save him and get him away from momma. One day I'll tell you about that but for now its sunday and I wanna get to the footstompin' at church!
I honestly cannot believe what I just read. To keep from being banned, I won't say what I'm thinking right now. I will say that I'll be praying for your family, especially Lynnie's children that they will someday be able to forgive everyone involved for keeping them in this situation. I'll also pray that if Lynnie ends up dead that they will still be able to have faith in Christ, regardless of the "spiritual intervention" that they were promised.
This reminds me of the story of the man who was caught in the flood. He prayed for God to save him. Shortly later, a boat came by - the man refused help and said that "God will save me." A few minutes after that, a jet ski came by - again, the man refused the help - "God will save me." Then a helicopter hovered overhead and threw down a ladder. Again, the man refused yelling "God will save me!!" Finally, he drown. Upon reaching Heaven, he asked God why he wasn't saved. God said, "I sent a boat, a jet ski and a helicopter!"
I just reread your last post again - the being locked in the house - the kids with her on the couch with a deranged man daring them to move.....AND, she's suicidal. You're a retired law enforcement officer - did you ever actually go on calls or did you just pray for the people and leave it up to God?
I apologize for my last post. I should have stuck with God's word to begin with:
How does God feel about abuse?
Psalms 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Zephaniah 1:9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
Psalms 37:9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
Malachi 2:16-17 �I hate [...] a man�s covering his wife with violence, as well as with his garment.� says the Lord Almighty
What does the Bible say about the responsibilities of the Church in such a matter? (This is speaking of believers)
Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Hebrews 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Hebrews 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
Jeremiah 22:3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor;
Proverbs 31:9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
From what I can gather, prayer is important - but we are also to take action to help. Had someone not intervened for me, I wouldn't be typing this right now - instead, my kids would be putting flowers on my grave.
