A married couple who are very dear to me have been married for a little over 3 years, but the marriage is in trouble. The details are not as important as is the fact that they have said they are in the process of ending their marriage.
Everyone else seems to be sort of shrugging it off almost casually. “Oh, well…” “Guess it just didn’t work out.” “Too bad, but it happens a lot these days.” Some are even encouraging them to end the marriage.
I recognize this as a spiritual warfare situation. As Satan has done with so many others, he has gotten this husband and wife to hurt each other. He has separated them from each other, and he has separated them from God.
This is so very much like David’s battle with Goliath. Satan has manipulated this man and his wife with the skill and cunning of a puppeteer. He can cause them to say and do things to hurt each other seemingly at will. I can almost see satan laughing in God’s face, mocking the God I serve just as Goliath mocked our God whom David called the “Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel”.
Like David, I refuse to stand by watching that happen and do nothing. What is ultimately at stake here is the very Name and reputation of God Himself. God’s Word promises that there is none who can deliver from His hand:
I picture Satan sneering at God and saying, “I have them! They’re mine now! Who’s going to do something about it?!” He’s taunting us, just as Goliath taunted the armies of Israel. Satan knows the power of God, but he’s assuming nobody will know or have faith enough to believe it and act on it.
That’s where he’s wrong! David stepped out in faith, and brought down Goliath with a slingshot. I’m stepping out in faith with something even more powerful: the Word of God!
As soon as I heard of this, I began praying for this couple every morning. At first I prayed from the pages of my Bible, reading aloud passages of promise that fill me with hope and the reassurance that God will not let Satan have them. By and by, I pulled the Scriptures together and printed them on a page. Each morning as I prayed, more and then still more thoughts and verses came to mind. The notes grew to be several pages in length. As I shared the story, someone encouraged me to turn my typed pages into a booklet.
I’m in a very awkward situation. Nobody else agrees with me, including the couple themselves. So, like David, I stand alone in battle against forces of evil. But then again, not alone! I have the Word of God. All the forces of heaven are with me.
I spend time regularly listening and re-listening to Bible teaching messges that instruct and encourage me. Just as David came to know God during those lonely years he spent with his father’s sheep on the pastures outside of Bethlehem, I have spent years learning God’s ways by spending time every day learning to handle His Word.
When David finally went out against Goliath, there was not a shadow of a doubt in his mind that the battle was the Lord’s. David had a part in the drama. He did his part, then God did the part David could not possibly do.
That’s exactly how it is with me, as I go to my knees each morning and pray. As I read aloud those wonderful promises from the Bible, and there is not even a hint of doubt in my mind that God might not restore their marriage. It’s just a matter of time.
This is what it looks like to “walk by faith and not by sight.”
