Reality Check – Is This Reasonable?

Jan Smith

Saul of Tarsus knew exactly what his purpose was as he headed for Damascas that day: find and arrest all the followers of this “Jesus” on his list. He had all the proper permissions and documentation. And most of all, he knew he was following the will of God.

As we know today, Saul was wrong. In an instant and with a blinding flash of light, God knocked him flat and changed the entire course of his life. God even changed Saul’s name. He became Paul, the great apostle and writer of most of the New Testament of the Bible.

When God wants to, He can change things in an instant. He can do it, as the Bible often says: “suddenly”.

I’ve never actually heard of a modern-day God-encounter of the “blinding light” kind. But I happen to know that God still changes people suddenly. I know that because it has happened to me.

On three separate occasions, God has “spoken” to me. I put the word in quotes because God’s contact was not with an audible voice. All I can describe it as is a deep, deep knowing in my spirit that Something supernatural had happened in an instant of time. Suddenly, I knew some things I hadn’t known before. If it ever happens to you, you’ll see what I mean. And you’ll know it was God. Nobody will ever convince you otherwise.

It’s that type of sudden transformation that I imagine happening to the couple I’ve been praying for. In their case, many things will have to change. I’ll be the first to admit that they cannot be successful as a couple the way they have been and the way they are now. Counseling hasn’t worked. Only God will be able to touch them in such a way that they will know the truth. When He does that… well, as Jesus said, “All things are possible.” I will never stop believing that.

Even as I write this, Satan has turned up the heat under the couple and under me and my wife. That can mean only one thing: Satan is worried. He can see into the spiritual realm and he knows that if I don’t waver in my faith, he will lose the battle.

Satan cannot afford to lose this battle. The fallout against his kingdom will be devestating. It will be obvious even to the most hardened skeptic that God has intervened. This will encourage many others to begin praying for spiritual “extreme makeovers” for marriages as well as other situations previously thought of as “impossible”. So, like a wild animal cornered, Satan is fighting with all he has. But even that is never good enough.

The two individuals have free wills. God will not force them to do anything. Satan would, but he is not allowed to do so. All Satan can do is try to trick them into hurting themselves and each other.

Prayer is the key to victory! As I’m on my knees each morning, I picture the couple as the ambassadors for Christ that they will be some day. I savor the thought of all of us serving Jesus together. And I certainly have shared my prayer widely. The booklet “Troubled Marriage: Restored!” and these pages on my web site demonstrate that.

I seem to be the only one who recognizes this current crisis as an opportunity to “be strong in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:10) disguised as an impossible situation. The pressure upon me right now would be unbearable, were it not for God’s Hand sustaining me. He has trained me for just such a time. I hold fast to the truth.

Those words and many other words like them are the words I choose to live by. If necessary, I will die for them.