For Once…It’s More About Us!
Yesterday, the following reminder of how important it is for us to understand what God means by letting go and moving on, was shared on the men’s private site by Dan, and since it’s such an important message for all of us as we stand for the restoration of our marriages, I appreciate Dan’s permission to share it here since we literally have pages and pages of praise reports and testimonies on the private sites proving the truth of what he shared. Those who experience the restoration of their marriages are the ones who understand that standing for marriage restoration is a lot more about us and what God wants to do in our lives, and that we are totally powerless to change or do anything about what’s going on in our spouses’ lives. But God isn’t, and when He sees us making the changes He desires, then HE WILL do whatever it takes to bring His plan for the restoration of our marriages to pass, and we can rely on that, because in Isaiah 46:11, God said From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. And there’s NO DOUBT that understanding and practicing the wisdom provided in both of these messages, and believing and resting in God’s awesome promise to defend and uphold the covenant of our marriages, will greatly bless and encourage all of us!
This weekend, I’ve been reading in my Covenant Keeper’s manual and from “The Divine Conspiracy” by Dallas Willard. So I want to share a couple of the teachings, reiterating many of the things that we have heard over and over, but which are never the less, extremely important as we trust God to heal our marriages. It is so natural to allow our desire for marriage restoration to become a burden, but it is not until we relinquish our mates and our situations, that God can move on our behalf, which He desires to do. So “letting go” and “moving on” are important, but they must be done the way God intends.
Releasing our mates to God, does not mean judging or condemning them, and it does not mean using scripture or logic to convince them they are wrong and should come home. We also have to “go on with our lives”, which I’m sure we have all heard from our family and friends; but we do that by focusing on what God wants to remove and change in our lives, and not by finding someone else. And if we speak evil of our mates, we become not “a doer”, but a judge.
What we are actually doing with our high and mighty proper condemnations and our wonderful solutions, more often than not, is taking others out of their own responsibility and out of God’s hands, and trying to bring them under our control. Yet we should always respect other people as spiritual beings, who are responsible before God alone for the course they choose to take of their own free will.
It was when Abraham stopped trying to fulfill the covenant he had with God and released it by being obedient and placing Isaac on the altar that he began to walk in the blessing and provision of the Lord. And we have seen the same results in standers who have been obedient to God and have had their marriages restored.
We need to let go of our mates and give them over to God so He can work His will and purpose in their lives. But we don’t stop praying, confessing the Word or doing spiritual warfare on their behalf. And we let God work equally in our own life as we do that. The result is peace; and This peace is not God releasing us from our stand; we are simply taking our hands off the situation and releasing it to God. Most of us have realized that we cannot “fix it” on our own, or our marriages would have already been restored.
God does respect freedom of choice, but Satan does not. So it’s important to continue to intercede for our mates so that the Lord will bring provision and people across their paths that will lead them to choose God’s best, which we all know is a covenant marriage, restored and healed, with the Godly husband and wife He intended for us to be in the first place.
If we demonstrate God’s grace in our lives as we walk out our stand, it will do more to teach our friends and family about God’s covenant love and His will for marriage healing, than any Bible scripture we could use to “prove” our position. Blessings, as we believe, and trust and obey God’s Word.
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7 (New Living Translation)
Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Psalm 55:22 (New Living Translation)
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
Luke 6:37-38 (New Living Translation)
How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
Matthew 7:3-5 (New Living Translation)
For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.
Romans 2:13 (New Living Translation)
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.
James 1:22-23 (New Living Translation)
Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters.[a] If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.
James 4:11 (New Living Translation)