Redefining My Marriage
October 16, 2012
Let me tell you, it’s deep stuff and one part I fee led to share with you today. So bare with me. This post might sting a little. But it’s like that antiseptic on a wound that stings at first but as it helps, the underlying pain goes away and the wound begins to heal.
Are you ready for some shaking up and then some healing?
I’ve shared in our book (chapter 4) God showed me (at a traffic light no less!) that I shouldn’t treat my husband any differently than if he were a believer.
Well, this past week I was convicted of this same principle in my marriage. Here’s my confession. I have treated my marriage as “less than.” I have treated my marriage as if it were defined by our spiritual mismatch. I have seen my marriage as a “yes, but.”
Does that resonate with you?
God is telling me to stop this. He wants me to see my marriage like I would if we were a believing couple. It doesn’t make sense but it does. Just go with me here.
Jesus treated every person and situation He met the same. He didn’t stop and take inventory of where the person or situation stood because He didn’t have to. His truth is universal REGARDLESS of whether a person or situation falls under his authority. Jesus acted according to what He knew to be true (what the Father told Him) and it was often after this that the person or situation then came under His authority.
God made His point that day at the traffic light about treating Mike no differently in his state of unbelief than I would if he were a believer. Now God is telling me to do this very same thing with my marriage.
This is what God showed me. When I see my marriage only through the definition of being spiritually mismatched, I limit God. It’s not my spouse’s unbelief that has limited God’s presence and power in my marriage, it’s my own fear of how my husband might react or what he might think of me, and my doubts.
If you’re like me when I first heard that, it took me a day to process it. It’s a shift in my thinking and perceptions but one I fully intend to obey. I’ve already confessed this to my sweet hubby who promptly smiled and said, “Right! We’re just different.”
Oh, how I love that guy. Is that not a measure of grace right there?
Now here comes your part. If this resonates with you, if you feel God’s tug to do the same (this is not just for me, my friends, and you’ll see why in just a few lines down), then I want you to pray the prayer below and make a new commitment to your marriage. If you need more time to think and process, that’s fine too.
Are you ready?
If you prayed this prayer, mentally sign your name. Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step! Email me at [email protected] with your name and address so I can mail you a copy of the certificate that you can sign and tuck into your Bible or put in a frame. Lynn and I also ordered some nifty wristbands with the words “I re-sign!” I’ll send you one of those as well.
I will also pray for each one of you by name (include your hubby’s name!) to step into this new way of seeing your marriage, and for God to show you your next step. Lynn has more in store for you later in the week too.
Lynn and I re-signed! How about you?
Praying & believing, Dineen