Interactions with God #43
When you give your life to Jesus Christ, it is just that, you GIVE your life to Christ. It starts with a realization that you NEED Him to be in charge. Once you realize what He can do with your life, you also WANT Him to be in charge. This means that you are always looking for His guidance in decision making. Especially the big decisions. What bigger decision is there in a person’s life than marriage? Ok, there is salvation, considering the eternal nature of that choice…
So then, how does someone get “guidance” from God and not end up some kind of loon hearing “voices”? Well, if you read the book, it does outline options and even gives examples. God can speak through anything and anyone, He is God after all. The biggest thing I have learned about hearing God speak is that HE will make sure you know it’s Him when HE wants to. Many times, however, He will leave you with a certain amount of room for doubt. This is where HE expects you to know enough of His word to make a proper judgment. If you don’t, well, you are opening yourself up to all kinds of stupidity. See Branch Dividians or Westboro Baptist.
There is also the Holy Spirit. God’s very presence, His heart, living in your body. Not a possession mind you, but more of a co-habitation. He, the Spirit, will not “take over”. He may be a wee bit pushy or insistent at times though. For example: He drove Jesus into the wilderness. Through the Holy Spirit is where much of God’s guidance for me has been. A quiet voice in my mind and heart. A strong image or longing and then there is the odd “knowing”. I think for that one, you would have to experience it to understand. You just “know” something. I am not talking about a Word of Knowledge, though it is is similar, a Word is generally spoken aloud. This is the Spirit of God guiding you by His own heart, sort of merging with yours. You just know.
In a few short weeks, I just knew Martha was to be my wife. I can’t really explain it better than that. Yes, I was in love with her. But those “feelings” of love can come and go. Marriage is permanent. It is a covenant to the death.
No, if I don’t like her anymore, I can’t just kill her. Though at times, I have really wanted too… Rather, the requirement of the covenant is to die for her instead. It is an example of Christ and His Church, and that, is clearly spelled out in the scriptures. After about three weeks, I asked her to marry me…tentatively.
No, my marriage proposal is not one of those romantic ones, not even close. I do regret that to this day. What can I say, I was an idiot then. No, I am not really much better now either. Sad face here. However, I was smart enough to confirm my “knowing” by asking God for His guidance. So as Martha and I began to discuss that permanent future, we sat together and prayed for God’s guidance here. We asked Him to tell us if He wanted us to marry.
Now, like most prayers, you may not get a response right away. You may not get a response at all. So, when you do get a quick response, it just stands out so much more. This one was a quickie.
The very next day, I went to work at the bank as usual. There was a woman there named Joyce Longo. She was a really nice lady. She was a bit older and friends with my manager, Karen. Joyce managed another group on the same floor. She was also a solid Christian woman. After a meeting with several departments, in which Martha was also in attendance, Joyce took me aside. You must understand, no one knew we were dating. I think it was probably noticeable that there were sparks flying between us, but then this whole thing was only 3 weeks after we met. Joyce knew that. Yet when she had me alone, she pointed to Martha and said “Lou, that is your wife”.
Joyce had a message from God for me, well and Martha too. Now, if we had not asked for God’s guidance the very day before, I would have brushed it off. Especially if I wasn’t dating or already considering marrying the girl. But when you ask God for an answer and He gives it within 24 hours through a person who knows nothing of your situation or request, well, I think it is a safe bet that God has given you what you His reply. We formally got engaged shortly after that day, just a month after we met.
Almost 26 years later, not always easy years either, God was not wrong. Of course not, as I have said before…He never is.