Readings: Romans 8:28 Psalm107:19-20 2 Corinthians1: 3-4
I had this opportunity to talk to this friend, the issue revolves on divorce (yeah, D-I-V-O-R-C-E). Though I had shared to her my stand on that matter on the grounds of my faith but the conversation left an imprint on my head. I believed that though it may not be well elaborated (that’s what I intend to do in this piece of writing) due to constraint of time and venue, the main point has been delivered—that there is a command against divorce.
I don’t mean to be a legalist here, neither condemns those who went through it. 1 Corinthians 7:23-24 says “23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.” Whether we are rich or poor, free or slave, married or single, widow or divorcee… we can serve God and we are to serve God in all conditions we have. From there we’ll learn to walk like Jesus and obey His commands. I am not going to preach also God’s command for all couples (for sure you know what those are)
But my purpose of discussing the subject is to be able to testify that marriage is worth keeping the vow we made given the deepest and may be worst pain and circumstances you are into due to unreasonable or unbecoming spouse you have.
What gives me the right to corroborate this concern whether to keep the marriage or go through divorce is because I happened to board on that boat sometime in the past. My marriage went wobbly to horrendous state. It was only the second year of our marriage when the monster inside my husband went amok. You name all the vices and the worst state in his life, those can be good grounds for divorce or legal separation (here in the Philippines) aside from the physical pain he inflected on me… and he wanted divorce too for the reason that he had an affair with this woman (several women came ahead of her and after her)…and he literally left me with my son (2 years old with a congenital heart disease) and daughter barely 3 months old.
And it was on this condition that God called me. I know pain is relative, God would not give you beyond you can bear. All of our pain has different magnitude to us as individuals although considering it is pain, it drains our emotion, gives us toxin, trauma and cynicism. Yet through this pain, God revealed Himself to me—His Sovereignty, His Power, His Greatness, His Faithfulness and His very nature Love. Knowing my God gives me so much revelation and it builds my relationship to Him, develops my trust and confidence on His Son and His promises. The whole healing was a long difficult process. Sometimes resistance, temptation to avenge, and self-pity revisited my thoughts. It truly involves my surrender to the Lord—that includes my will, my heart and my life—to get through it all. Really! Getting closer to Him changes everything because He will give you hope, peace and joy. Trials still come but your mindset has changed because your focus is God and Jesus Christ.
So what happened? You can not see tangible traces on my husband who he was before and who he is now. Who would think that I went through rainstorm in my marriage? But Jesus promised that He’ll bring me to the other side and claiming that promise and holding on to it truly blessed me and my family. God protected me from so much damage. I absolutely did not change my husband—Jesus did. On his road to his destruction, he too met Jesus
Problem or pain for that matter is not easy if you carry it alone. I can not solve any of my problems (either minor or major ones) with my own solution (neither can anyone else). Jesus offered His answers to me. And that’s the ONE and ONLY way that works given all the difficult scenario of your life. You may reason out, may be you have the point of your justification—but to settle it, you need not understand things right away but since God said so, then you have to obey. That’s FAITH.
I had this opportunity to talk to this friend, the issue revolves on divorce (yeah, D-I-V-O-R-C-E). Though I had shared to her my stand on that matter on the grounds of my faith but the conversation left an imprint on my head. I believed that though it may not be well elaborated (that’s what I intend to do in this piece of writing) due to constraint of time and venue, the main point has been delivered—that there is a command against divorce.
I don’t mean to be a legalist here, neither condemns those who went through it. 1 Corinthians 7:23-24 says “23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.” Whether we are rich or poor, free or slave, married or single, widow or divorcee… we can serve God and we are to serve God in all conditions we have. From there we’ll learn to walk like Jesus and obey His commands. I am not going to preach also God’s command for all couples (for sure you know what those are)
But my purpose of discussing the subject is to be able to testify that marriage is worth keeping the vow we made given the deepest and may be worst pain and circumstances you are into due to unreasonable or unbecoming spouse you have.
What gives me the right to corroborate this concern whether to keep the marriage or go through divorce is because I happened to board on that boat sometime in the past. My marriage went wobbly to horrendous state. It was only the second year of our marriage when the monster inside my husband went amok. You name all the vices and the worst state in his life, those can be good grounds for divorce or legal separation (here in the Philippines) aside from the physical pain he inflected on me… and he wanted divorce too for the reason that he had an affair with this woman (several women came ahead of her and after her)…and he literally left me with my son (2 years old with a congenital heart disease) and daughter barely 3 months old.
And it was on this condition that God called me. I know pain is relative, God would not give you beyond you can bear. All of our pain has different magnitude to us as individuals although considering it is pain, it drains our emotion, gives us toxin, trauma and cynicism. Yet through this pain, God revealed Himself to me—His Sovereignty, His Power, His Greatness, His Faithfulness and His very nature Love. Knowing my God gives me so much revelation and it builds my relationship to Him, develops my trust and confidence on His Son and His promises. The whole healing was a long difficult process. Sometimes resistance, temptation to avenge, and self-pity revisited my thoughts. It truly involves my surrender to the Lord—that includes my will, my heart and my life—to get through it all. Really! Getting closer to Him changes everything because He will give you hope, peace and joy. Trials still come but your mindset has changed because your focus is God and Jesus Christ.
So what happened? You can not see tangible traces on my husband who he was before and who he is now. Who would think that I went through rainstorm in my marriage? But Jesus promised that He’ll bring me to the other side and claiming that promise and holding on to it truly blessed me and my family. God protected me from so much damage. I absolutely did not change my husband—Jesus did. On his road to his destruction, he too met Jesus
Problem or pain for that matter is not easy if you carry it alone. I can not solve any of my problems (either minor or major ones) with my own solution (neither can anyone else). Jesus offered His answers to me. And that’s the ONE and ONLY way that works given all the difficult scenario of your life. You may reason out, may be you have the point of your justification—but to settle it, you need not understand things right away but since God said so, then you have to obey. That’s FAITH.
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