In the early stages of my stand for the restoration of my marriage, I found myself questioning how God was going to get my husband’s attention. I didn’t realize just how powerful God really is or how impossible it is to avoid Him when He is in pursuit of His sheep. But I’ve finally come to realize that the separation I’ve experienced was ultimately what brought ME back to the Lord, as He used these circumstances to make ME come to my senses!

As 2 Samuel 14:14 (NLT) declares, All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.

It’s important to take notice that this scripture says that God devises ways to bring us BACK when we have been separated from Him. God is in constant pursuit of His people, so we can’t go too far in life without Him, because He is sure to follow us everywhere; devising and carrying out HIS plans to get us to return to Him.

Our spouses are no different. God is in pursuit of them, and He will bring them back. But we have to realize and understand that the restoration of our marriages is secondary to the eternal purpose and consequences of our stand. God desires a relationship with our spouses, and He is in pursuit of relationship with them; like He is with us.

Most of us standing for the restoration of our marriages can attest to the amazing new relationship we found with the Lord through the circumstances we have faced. I never had such a close bond with God before as I do now because He has made Himself known to me in ways I never would have imagined. And the Lord has amazingly carried me through turbulent times without ever letting me go.

In the same way, this time in our spouses’ lives will eventually lead them closer to God. For some prodigal spouses, that may come before reconciliation, and for others, it will come only after marriage restoration. But no matter what, we have to grasp the fact that God is using us as an instrument in guiding our spouses closer to Him.

Acts 9:15 says, But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. And in the same way, we have been chosen by God to walk out this journey, which will one day bring our spouses to right relationship with God. We are a living example and testimony to everyone watching, including our spouses. That’s why we have to do things God’s way and not our own way, or the way of the world. Our stand for the restoration of our marriages and families is for the Lord’s glory and our stand will prove His faithfulness.

We are all probably familiar with the Parable of the Prodigal Son as Jesus told it in Luke 15:11-32, as well as the Parable of the Lost Sheep (also in Luke 15) and Hosea 2. The amazing insight found in these passages of scripture reveals the unmistakable pursuit of God and His unfailing love and His power and faithfulness to bring us back regardless of how many times we run away from him! God has already found us and brought us back (or is in the process of bringing us back), but He is still pursuing our spouses. And we can be absolutely certain that God will NEVER give up on us or on them; not today and not tomorrow.

And God uses many ways to communicate with our spouses. There have been so many times when I have personally witnessed how the hand of God was written all over my husband’s life. And even though many of those times were hard on my husband and difficult for me to witness, they were a message from God to him about what he was doing, which he himself openly acknowledges now. And God used everything from calendar dates to dreams to speak to him to convince Him to turn from the lifestyle he is involved in. Thankfully, my husband is definitely coming to his senses now, and it is as if I am seeing Jeremiah 18:3-6 play out as God reshapes him in His hands until He is satisfied with the finished product.

So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. (Jeremiah 18:3-6 – NLT)

So trust that God is doing the same in and with your spouse – even if you can’t see it! You may not get to witness all that God is doing right now, but God will show you in HIS time, that He IS working. We have to hold tight to the power and promise of His Word and demonstrate our faith; most especially when we DON’T SEE it happening. That is when our faith moves mountains! We know that all things are possible with God, so we have to stop putting Him in a box. We don’t have to worry about the “how” and “when – we just have to trust Him and KNOW that HE will bring it to pass! He is ALWAYS in pursuit of His sheep!

Posted Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 at 3:13 pm in Seeds Of Faith.