Are you upset with how God is handling your life?

How He is choosing to heal you, your spouse and marriage? How long it is taking? And that fact that you feel completely in the dark about what is going on? Are you taking this waiting personally as rejection? That because God is not doing this for you, He doesn’t love you or want to defend you? Is your anger because you are feeling let down and rejected by God?

I was! When God revealed to me that I was NOT to pray the OW out of my husband’s life; that she was the EXACT thing that was going to drive my spouse to his knees in repentance; I was upset and BEGGED God for a different plan. When He said, “I can remove her, but then 7 more will take her place,” I was FURIOUS!

 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

Too much was hindering me from understanding. The pain of my spouse being with yet another woman infuriated me. Especially since this last one was very bent on slandering me and making me look horrible. She made sure to remind and magnify every fault I had while exalting herself as the better choice to my spouse.

But God is not going to change how He handles things to spare our pain. He will offer us understanding so it’s bearable, but He won’t change course! He is after their SOUL, that means more to God than anything.

Our pride, our arrogance, our ego sometimes will get the better of us and we will REFUSE HOW God is choosing to help us. We ask Him for help, He offers, but because it’s not the way WE want, we walk away furious and again take matters into our own hands. Thinking we can handle our situation far better than God.

Especially when God is not speaking directly to us. He is using the Standing groups to deliver His message, the Word of God to tell you to Stand because marriage was designed to last. Divorce was never His plan. But because He is NOT speaking DIRECTLY to you, you take a huff and storm off.

This is exactly what the leper Naaman did in 2 Kings 5.

Naaman was told to go to the Prophet of Israel to be healed. He loaded up with money and gifts of clothing and went to the King instead. Completely bypassing the prophet and going straight to the head honcho! Why? Well, Naaman was a top dog commander who was highly regarded and held many victories. His ego demanded that he go straight to the King.

This is evident as his fury arose when Elijah would not even come out to talk to him but sent his servant instead.

“But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage,” (2 Kings 5:10-12).

Not only was he upset that the great Prophet did not deem it necessary to come out and speak with him, he was outraged with HOW his healing would come. He wanted it handed to him. His way.

I know this. I wanted God to totally undo, redo, and create a totally different plan. I even started to figure out a better plan to bring my spouse to repentance. (Shaking my head.) Ok, in my defense, at that time I was truly a blind child that had NO understanding of God. Yes, I tried to tell our Father, the Creator of the Universe HOW to do His job. Because His ways were just way too painful for me to handle, ………just like when at that final stage of childbirth, we are screaming, “NEVER MIND!!! I don’t want to have a baby anymore.”

Jonah ran and became angry at God because He did not like the character and nature of God’s mercy and compassion. He wanted God to handle sin his way, with destruction – not forgiveness. We are NOT wiser than God. We better learn this really quick. God will not spare us pain to birth a promise. Yes, He can help ease it, but we all know Standing is a very painful process. The last thing we need to add to this very stressful process is our pride and ego!

God is using the storm to save souls.

Standing with you, Sheila Hollinger