Psalm 138
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
before the āgodsā I will sing your praise.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
When I called, you answered me;
you made me bold and stouthearted.
May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth.
May they sing of the ways of the LORD,
for the glory of the LORD is great.
Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly,
but the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
with your right hand you save me.
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures foreverā
do not abandon the works of your hands.
I remember singing so many different songs in church about ‘not being ashamed of the Gospel of Christ’. Ā The meaning of that simple phrase took on greater significance when I began to stand on the Word for my marriage. I would tell the Lord, “your Word says this….Oh let me not be put to shame as I believe your going to pull us through this.” I would tell the Lord, this is going to turn out really good or really bad. I’m going to look super smart or very dumb. I put all my eggs in one basket so to speak. That is what true faith is. You are either all in or all out. No in between.
I keep coming back to the example of David, Esther, and Gideon. There was no way they could have obeyed ‘half-way’ in those situations.
Will God tell me to leave:
I remember sitting in my counselors office in Oregon and she told me something I did not want to hear. She said Julie, God will tellĀ you if Ā He wants you to leave your marriage. Now I did not want to hear this because I did not want to go down that road but in my heart I knew it was true. He would tell me. God would tell me. In that case leaving becomes obedience. There are some people that God will say its time to leave.
One of the lies the enemy uses to get you to make a decision quickly and give up is this:
As you look at yourself in the mirror he whispers to you…You’re not getting any younger and you only have a few good years left….too much time goes by and no-one else will want you.