Marriage Crisis: God Heals the Wife

“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” (1 Cor. 7:10-11 NIV).

In Marriage Are Rocks to Overcome (PD).

Can God save a marriage? Emotions are very powerful. They prove to be either very supportive or very devastating. I think a young wife can come to a point when she feels she needs to prove her husband and her marriage. "Have I married the right husband?" she ponders.

SHE: There was a lack of security; I always wanted security. And yet we felt called to live our lives by faith. We had not really made the break from the religious church. I don't think we realized the kind of spiritual warfare that would confront us in ministry.

To do what we were doing, we should have had the mature backing of a Christian church. On our own, we spun off from our religious background. Our families thought we were crazy to sell and give away all our possessions to follow the Lord. I found it especially hard because I had these four kids under kindergarten age. I felt emotionally depleted. Our fourth baby was just age one.

SHE: More than that, my husband was involved as a graduate divinity student. I remained at home alone taking care of kids. I found it very difficult to handle this. I felt vulnerable, I guess, from all of it, and the enemy knew my weaknesses. Although we belonged to some prayer groups, they were still very new relationships.

At that time, nationally-known Christian leaders 
were in the process of divorcing. 

We've come to see that when something is going wrong inside a certain ministry or organization, that very spirit of devastation extends from the head and spreads throughout the body.

SHE: We heard and we knew of other married students getting divorces. I'll never forget this tall guy in our graduate class from Texas and how very sad and sullen his face appeared as he told us his wife was divorcing him. All of sudden I just lost my bearings. I felt I couldn't depend on my husband. I couldn't depend on anybody. I just needed to get out. I folded up emotionally.  

Often there was no food in the refrigerator. 

You've got to be prayed up to handle that. We saw many miracles. I felt a lack of connection with my husband. He worked a night job to earn income selling insurance. He was gone during the day to classes. We didn't have enough time together. We had stress and tension. I grew further and further disconnected from him. I just did not want to do it anymore. 
 

Anointed prayers for inner healing 

SHE: When I returned back to my family home, my aunt was helpful in getting me connected to the Christian counseling center. The counseling sessions showed me problems in communications and how to deal with my emotions. But I just knew what I longed for was something more, anointed prayers for inner healing.

SHE: My Mom's wise friend, a Spirit-filled Christian, set aside some time for me to pray with her for inner healing. I drove to the northern end of the county to her home. Something happened in that prayer! As she prayed with me, a burden lifted from me like a heavy load I carried. I now had peace in my soul that I had not known until then.  

“Okay, Lord, I'm willing.” I remember sitting out on the patio and praying. “Lord, place the love in me for my husband.” God tenderly comforted me. That night, I heard a flock of geese overhead honking and the Lord spoke to me. 

"As the geese know when to fly, 
you'll know when to return home."

(Follow this true story on Corner Retreat.)

– Bill Hunt

Q. Invariably, someone will ask me, what about the tragedy of the sorely abused wife or husband? All the scriptures of love apply. Or as Paul says, “God has called us to live in peace” (1 Cor 7:15 NIV). Christian love demands the church help this victim to a place of safety and peace.