Adultery, Forgiveness, Redemption
The woman sitting across the table from me glowed. Her eyes sparkled and her smile lit up her face. Though her story was one of terrible pain inflicted on her childrenand her by her ex spouse, the only time she wept was when she spoke of grace and God's mercy toward her. I was moved to my own tears when instead of condemning her unfaithful husband, she pointed out her own sinful nature and that she is grateful that God protected her from committing the sin of adultery because she knows she is capable of such sin.
Sue and I were taping an interview for our new Help and Hope resource, Adultery, Forgiveness and Redemption. About twelve years ago Sue's pastor husband left her after committing adultery with a woman in their local church and then committing adultery again. Suddenly Sue was a single woman tasked with raising four children by herself. Today her four adult children love Jesus and serve Him with strength and courage. In this interview Sue shares some of the poignant moments of how God met her in the darkness and gave her the courage to take a step at a time in rebuilding her life and caring for her family. She describes how her local church became the family her children needed and how those relationships carry them even today. Perhaps the most profound truth she shared, at least most profound for me, was the scripture that she chose as the grid through which to view her journey and how to respond to her unfaithful husband.
Perhaps you are in the middle of a rancorous divorce or terrible marriage and you don't know how to get back to a place of peace. Soak in this scripture and ask God to apply its truth to your circumstances as Sue and her children learned to do. It won't be easy. In fact, I think it's impossible without the supernatural grace of God. But then, if God commands, He also equips. So before you say you can't, prayerfully ask Him to give you strength to obey this command:
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their sense and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will
2 Timothy 3:22-26
To obey this command requires an intimate knowledge of the mercy of God in our own hearts. Knowing our own hearts' capability for sin and the fact that God's mercy covers that sin will soften our hearts toward those who we want to hurt or take revenge on because of the pain they have caused. It will relieve the need to win the argument, to prove our point, to hurt the other person because they have so deeply hurt us.
How convicted I am as a result of Sue sharing this part of her story with me.
I can't wait to share it in full with you when the CD interview is ready. Subscribe to this blog and you'll be one of the first ones to know when it's available. (Update: It's available! Free download or free CD - click the link below.)
May you experience God's sweet presence as you share His treasures of encouragement with others.
In His grip,
Sharon
(Originally Posted At : October 1, 2008 8:00 AM | Posted By : Sharon Betters)