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by Brenda McGillowayMy husband, Steve, and I have been together for 13 years. Well, kind of. You see, we've had a very rocky marriage. We used to call ourselves "on again, off again." My husband had a full-time hobby that used to keep him very busy: it was called alcohol. I was far from perfect myself, and it wasn't easy to compete with the bottle, so we knew how to fight better than anything else.
Then, one day I found Jesus and gave my heart to the Lord! This didn't end the troubles, though. In fact, my husband had a lot of fun at my expense. He would call my friends and me a bunch of crazy holy rollin' Bible thumpers. I never disagreed with him and after a while he didn't find it to be very funny anymore. He started to feel as though he was losing me to another man. He was. The man was Jesus.
Finally, Steve gave me an ultimatum. I had to choose between him or my God. I chose God. My husband left home. We were separated for about seven months this time, and we both felt it was for good. Each of us started seeing lawyers.
Steve wanted to have visitation rights with our son. The courts finally agreed that he should have that right, but that it was to be supervised. Well, I thought of a wonderful plan! If he wanted to see our son, he could go to the home church where I was attending and visit with him there on Sundays.
On December 24, 1997, Steve and I were in court again. This was the day my lawyer was supposed to hand Steve his divorce papers. It was also the day Steve's lawyer was to hand me mine. We had both filed for divorce at the same time without the other's knowledge. Neither lawyer handed us those papers that day. Talk about God's intervention!
About one month later I was at home with a friend. My phone rang and it was my pastor. He told me that he'd just helped Steve move into his own apartment but he didn't have any furniture or food, and asked if I could help him out.
It turns out that Steve and the pastor had been meeting together about twice daily ever since Steve was at our church. Steve's life had deteriorated to the point of no hope. He wanted a change and was finally willing to allow someone to help him up out of the despair.
So, with a forced grin on my face and humming quietly, I set to work filling bags with food and collecting a few items for him. My girlfriend finally asked me what in the world I was doing? Looking her straight in the eyes, I said, "I'm being like Jesus."
The rest is pretty much history. Our pastor was not going to leave Steve alone until he gave his heart to the Lord and our marriage was mended.
Steve accepted Christ and he and our son were baptized shortly afterward. On August 28th, 1998, our anniversary, we renewed our vows in the eyes of the Lord.
During an evening Bible study, Steve found himself feeling quite shaky. At that point the group asked him if he wanted them to pray over him. He agreed and they laid hands on him and prayed to God for his complete deliverance from alcohol. The shaking left his body and he has never craved alcohol since that evening!
Are you in a troubled relationship? Please remember to seek God's face. He will never leave you nor forsake you. You are His child and He wants to mend your broken heart and your marriage. God can do all things no matter what it may look like to us.
You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here's a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of woman you want me to be.
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.
If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you'll experience life to the fullest.
~ Brenda is the editor of Women's Work, a small magazine for Christian women in Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada. She leads worship at Narcolsi Fellowship, where she and Steve are members.
