He Never Lets Go!

Divorce.  Affair.  Adultery.  Infidelity.  Addiction.  These are all words that quicken the heart rate and strike a chord of fear in one's life.  It's the news that no one wants to hear, yet every day we all hear the stories and some of us have lived through it.  They are rampant in our world today and it is hard to find a person in this world who hasn't walked through one of these things or experienced it with someone they are close to in their life.  They are destructive, devastating, damaging and simply heart-breaking and cause a tidal wave of grief, hurt, and pain to anyone in their midst and the associated families.  In short...they are a tool of the enemy and they are deadly to the Spirit.

I've always been very careful about what I blog about and I've purposefully avoided some of the above topics.  Let's call it the elephant in the room.  The reason being is I have no desire to be spiteful, revengeful and drag people through the mud, nor do I want to judge anyone else.  But we have an epidemic on our hands if you haven't noticed, and someone needs to be discussing this!  Who better than someone who has walked the path already.  So here we go...

Many of you who read my blog are hurting or you have been referred to my blog by a friend who knows my testimony and journey.  I can relate to your pain as one who has been there and lived it and believe me, I have sympathy like you cannot imagine for your circumstance.  Many of you are being dragged through a divorce RIGHT NOW that you don't want.  Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.  Others are pondering and leaning towards divorce, or having an extramarital affair and playing the "what if" game.  Some may be married, but are unhappy because their life has not turned out as they planned.  Maybe you are thinking about throwing in the towel on your marriage in this moment because it's just too hard and let's face it, you feel you deserve more than what you are currently getting in your relationship.  You've got more reasons that Carter has pills to why you simply just want out, and in your mind those reasons sound dang good right about now and you've convinced yourself you are justified.  I've heard them all before...many in my own life and personal experiences.  But the one thing you are discounting...and let's face it, the only thing that really matters...is that we serve an awesome God who is still in the miracle working business and He is able to make the impossible very possible.  And no, I don't know how He does it...He just does!  So I write and share this blog today to encourage those who are hurting; to give hope to the hopeless; and to speak truth to those who are maybe in denial about the slippery slope they are heading down. 

I've personally lived through exposing an affair and adultery in my own marriage, that as a result, caused the collapse of my marriage and lead to me being divorced and my ex marrying the other woman very shortly after.  I've lived through the hell, the shame, the disgrace and the pain that divorce and adultery can bring to one's life and to their family and friends and I don't wish THAT scenario on my worst enemy.  It's sickening, gut wrenching and really unable to be described.  However, I've also lived through the redemptive power that only Christ can bring to one's life and I've personally seen a miracle unfold in my life, not of my power and strength, but of the Lord's.  Let me say clearly, that I played a part as well in the collapse of my marriage because I lived with God in the margins of my life instead of allowing Him to be at the head of my marriage as He should have been.  I take responsibility for that as the wife and I'm not trying to play the victim here or the blame game.  But I did go through hell, and believe me, God never let go, even in my darkest hour when I wanted to give up because I just couldn't see how this could turn out in any way, shape or form positively.  Some days, I look back now and I can't even remember the person I once was...she no longer exists honestly.  There is a new creation in her place that only God can get the credit and the glory for creating and transforming, but she's still a work in progress.  Despite my cries and pleading to God, my own marriage was not reconciled.  And to be honest, God specifically told me during the process that the marriage would end.  That was difficult to accept then, but I now am beginning to see why.  God has plans for me and a calling on my life, some of which is unfolding now, and in the situation I was in before, those plans simply could not happen.  I don't know why God restores some marriages and not others because quite simply, I am not God (not even close).  But, for me, I see what a broken and contrite spirit did in my own life and how what I went through was a vehicle for refining and transformation my life.  I've lived before with God in the margins and let me attest, it is no way to live.  I'm now seeing true beauty from the ashes; repayment and restoration of what the locusts ate and devoured in my life; a double portion; rebirth, transformation and second chances that are so sweet and fill me with such joy and strength that I never thought possible just a short year ago.  I pray every day that I never go back to where I've been in the past.  I've truly experienced more than I could ask or imagine or even deserve when I was in my darkest hours.  Life is just better than it has ever been even though it has turned out not at ALL the way I thought or planned!

I share my heart with you that read my blog today for one simple reason: to plead with you to stop what you are doing, click on the link below and watch the video with an open heart and mind of the testimony shared by this sweet and very courageous couple.  Watch and see proof on the screen of what God can and will do with a broken and contrite spirit despite how we screw up with our poor decisions making.  It is powerful and not for the faint of heart...and you might want to grab a tissue because it is emotional.  I've walked the same road as this couple with totally different outcomes as far as my marriage was concerned, but the exact same outcome for the transformation God did in my life and in my heart.  No matter what the outcome may be in your own life and situation, believe that God is faithful in what He promises and put your trust not in yourself or someone else, but into God.  He's the only one that will never, ever, let you down.

http://www.tobyslough.com/god-on-the-margins/


Keep the faith,

JOY