How Do I Know God's Will For My Marriage?
Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—-his good,
pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
Are you willing to seek the Lord to KNOW
His will for your life? Are you willing to do God's will regardless of
His assignment? Will you choose today to pick up your cross and follow
Him forever to go on a spiritual journey? He will never lead you down a
wrong path. Imagine if you had sought the Lord at an earlier time
seeking to know and do the will of God in your life and marriage. How
different your marriage may have been!"I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." Psalm 40:8
Today, your question may be very simple. "How do I know God's will for my marriage?"
A few years before I divorced Bob, I met with our pastor. I told him briefly some of our marriage problems. I also told our pastor how much I loved Bob and did not believe in divorce. He talked to me for a little while, but then he said, "Charlyne, I feel God wants me to give you a scripture that you need to do for the rest of your life. I hope it becomes very special to you." I was deeply disappointed with the pastor giving me one scripture, but now I share it frequently in devotionals and to many people. I did not allow the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart at that time. I had to wait until it came alive to me after our divorce. I pray that this scripture will become like manna was to the Israelites or let it be your "rhema" word for today.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1Thessalonians 5:16-18
As you seek to"know and do" the will of God, may this be one of the first scriptures that you choose to memorize that gives clear instructions for how to live your life daily. Let me share some important scriptures that will help you to"know" God's will for you regarding your marriage. Have you started to stand and fight for your marriage? To help you know more, make time to look up all the scriptures in the Bible about marriage and divorce. Read them more than once and ask the Lord to help you understand them. Another suggestion is to cross-reference them to get more scriptures that magnify the subject even more.
I hope you have started reading the Bible daily. Ask the Lord to reveal His wisdom and knowledge so you can become a strong Christian and become the wife/mother or husband/father that you need to become by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let me start sharing a few scriptures that begin in Genesis. As you read the Bible, you will read that God created man and then God created the woman as God said,…"It is not good for the man to be alone." Genesis 2:18
Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:22-24
So God created a woman to be the man's helpmate and loving companion. You need to learn how to"know" and "do" the will of God in your marriage. Let me have you read two powerful scriptures that will show you that God wants marriages to be all that He created them to be in the beginning, one flesh and forever.
Another thing you do: You flood the Lord's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. "I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the Lord Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith. Malachi 2:13-16
Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?" Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery." Matthew 19:3-9
You may have read this scripture and see this as an “escape clause” for you to divorce your husband/wife due to their unfaithfulness. My pastor read it to me and told me I needed to divorce my husband due to his unfaithfulness and that Bob would never change. But after my divorce, God revealed to me His heart for marriage restoration by sending a couple to share their testimony at my church. God had touched and changed both their hearts and lives and their marriage was restored five years later. He started living a very sinful lifestyle, but their marriage was restored because his wife fasted and prayed for his salvation and marriage restoration. God spoke to my heart and said to me, “I hate divorce. I want you to forgive Bob and I will restore your marriage.”
You need to believe in the institution of marriage, the permanence, the sanctity and the covenant of marriage. There are couples in churches who have had marriage problems and they have been getting divorced, instead of praying, fasting and fighting for their marriage. God does not want you to give up. He started speaking to a remnant of His people, showing His heart’s desire about marriage. There are so many different scriptures that teach us about the permanence of marriage:
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 1Corinthians 7:10-11
A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:39
There are many other scriptures about marriage and about husbands and wives in the Bible. Today start the first step in "knowing and doing the will of God" by crying out, asking Him for His wisdom, His will, His divine directions and answers for your life and marriage. The Lord knows everything about your marriage problems and He can reveal His will and way for your own personal problems and questions that you have. Write the questions down and spend time with the Lord in prayer. Wait and listen for His answers today or in the near future as God does speak to His children.
"'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'" Jeremiah 33:3
Now read the very first scripture in this devotional (below) and start allowing the Lord to renew your mind to what God’s will is for your marriage; His good, pleasing and perfect will!
Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—-his good,
pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
Charlyne Steinkamp
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