The Marital Way Of Escape. As the couple sat before the counseling table, frustrations laced every word spoken, and the expressions of their mien betrayed their hearts, they were both unhappy.
Their finances were in a mess. They were neck-deep in debt that refused to move.
Their career choices seemed out of place, and their bank accounts were in a coma.
Health-wise, they were not having the best of times.
The problems seemed to rear up their heads in every area of their lives.
What should they do?
What is that one thing that can bail you out irrespective of what you are facing?
As you navigate through the path of marriage as husband and wife, what is the most important thing?
What is that one thing that will solve every and any issue in marriage?
What is that one thing a husband and wife should never joke with?
The Marital Way Of Escape
Here we go.
No matter what you are facing right now in your marriage or home, no matter how the problems seemed insurmountable or gargantuan, you can get out.
The scriptures declare
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
There is nothing you are going through right now that does not have a way of escape.
Why is there a way of escape always?
Because God is faithful.
He will never abandon you! Read that again! Never!
Again, if you are a child of God, everything, I mean everything you are going through right now is not designed to kill you or snuff out the life in you.
They are designed to bring out the best in you, build your faith muscle and get you to that place where you can fearlessly take mountains and cities.
Then finally, understand there is always a way of escape.
Mortgage, buying a house, health issues, fruit of the womb, nagging wife, uncooperative husband, wayward children, impossible debts, bills to pay…and the list is endless.
Whatever it is, there is A WAY OF ESCAPE!
The Marital Way Of Escape
What is that way of escape?
That is our bone of contention this morning.
The way of escape is the way of God’s word.
In the midst of darkness, you only need a word that will lighten your path.
That is your way of escape. A word from the Lord.
You don’t need too many words.
You only need a word.
The word is the seed.
300 million sperm released. But only one is needed to fertilize and bring forth a baby, your man-child.
In the same way, you only need a word to bring forth that baby!
Sit down, study, meditate, and get a word from the Lord!
As believers and children of God, we are operating below capacity most times.
We often allow the pressures of life, the storms in our souls, and the weight of our needs to obfuscate the limitless, massive, and incredible arsenals sitting within us.
Our weapons are not carnal, so says the Holy Writ!
It means we may not feel anything physical, but this does not in any way diminish or reduce the power that we have at our disposal.
You need to understand that in your humanity is encapsulated the divinity.
This is the greatest mystery ever.
But that is the reality.
God has come to Tabernacle in man!
Such is unheard of in the old testament.
To think of such a thing is courting disaster.
But upon the death of Jesus, a way was made and paved for us.
As singles and married, you don’t need to go to God. God lives in you!
Dare The Lover Of Your Soul!
The Old Testament patriarchs and prophets operated below our own placement, And yet look at what the scriptures say about an Old Testament Prophet.
Jas 5:17-18 (KJV) Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. [18] And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
This man held the whole word to ransom at his word. He simply locked the heavens for three and half years and put the key in his pocket!
Then after three years, he unlocked it.
What weapon did he use?
Prayer.
That is the one weapon you still have today but you are even much more at an advantage than Elijah! You just do not realize it!
Those guys dared to believe God!
I want to dare you this morning, dare to believe God.
In that situation in your life, concerning your relationship/marriage, dare to believe in God.
Believe Him for the impossible.
Stop looking for someone to pray for you.
Engage God by yourself.
Have a sustained time of praying and believing God and then see what God will do in your life!
As you talk to him, pray earnestly. That was how Elijah did it! Pray with some fire!
…and he prayed earnestly…
Switch off your phones. Eliminate every distraction and pray earnestly.
Dare The Lover Of Your Soul!
Another translation says he prayed hard! Get a scripture that talks about the situation, meditate on it, and get into the place of prayer!
Dare yourself. Dare God!
God will hear you!
My father will hear you!
Heaven will respond to you!
That wedding will be a reality. That job opportunity will come though. Those contracts will become a reality. Those curses, lineage issues, delays, and all that will be broken!
You will yet rejoice! You will yet be full of joy! Don’t give up!
Ade and Sandra are so much in love. They were both God-loving but something changed the moment they began a relationship. Their relationship with God plummeted. Their prayer life suffered. Bible studies gave way to endless chatting and love poem compositions.
It also happened with the Johnson couple. Once married, their relationship with God suffered.
Where is the balance? What are the issues?
Loving Without Unloving God
Your toasting skill alone will not sustain a relationship. There are things you are going to confront and fight that do not recognize mere romantic rhetoric.
Your ability to trip her and take her to Dubai every weekend and take each other all around the world, do not arrest the enemy of your soul.
Hear this word:
“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” (Psa 127:1, KJV)
The word “house” also means family. Except the Lord builds a family, all the labours of outings, toasting, shopping, all the emotional energy expended, all the times, and more are all in vain, wasted, and gone into oblivion.
In other words, your love equation without God becomes an unsolvable equation.
The next question then “How do you make sure God is the builder of your relationship, marriage or family?
They are so simple. Here are some tips.
Loving Without Unloving God
1. Make sure you put God first place in everything you are going to do. Never ever relegate Him because of some love affair. For example, you use to wake up by 5.00am to pray and worship God, but since you fell in love, prayer time has suffered because of calls and chatting with your lover. If you take notice, you will always be quarreling because something vital is not in place! The same in marriage. You were all on fire for God, but once married, no flicker of light! Ensure you light up your fire, even in marriage!
2. Never allow a relationship, courtship, or marriage to draw you away from God When you do that, it will not work out fine. That is what the scripture says.
3. Do not get involved with someone who doesn’t love God. Do not get involved with someone whose spiritual life you cannot vouch for. Anybody that will snuff out the fire of God in you is not appropriate for you. Don’t even think you can change anybody: when you have not been able to change yourself!
And if you are already married, seek help and counsel.
4. Aside from the salvation experience, ask some other questions. Who are his or her pastors/mentors? Who are his or her friends?
5. What are people around you saying about the relationship? Friends, pastors, respected authority figures, and so on?
Already married? Have a mutual mentor that you speak to from time to time. A successful marriage is never done in isolation.
Where does life come from? Where does death come from? What is the part of our lives we must guard most? What is that one area we should pay utmost attention to? What is the area we should invest in most in order to have a successful relationship that will lead to a wedding and eventually a great marriage?
Well the twenty-third verse of chapter four of the Proverbs tells us
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
This is where life issues from! Incidentally, death will come from here as well. It depends on whether you guard your heart or it’s a free for all thing.
The Amplified version even illustrates further;
Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.
How To Guard Your Love
You are to guard it above all you guard!
In other words, the security apparel you deploy to your heart should be more than those at the gate of your house!
Pay attention to your heart!
Who do you talk to? Those you talk to can access the inner chambers of your heart uninvited.
Who have you fallen in love with? That fellow has the master key to your heart and can quickly disarm your heart’s security protocols!
Who do you discuss your marital issues with? That person can influence you, your attitude and can even remotely enter your bedroom and dictate what should go on there!
You are aptly advised, to guard your heart with all diligence, above all you guard!
That is where life issues come from!
When home wreckers and invaders gain access, death can proceed from there!
You really want to be careful who has access to your heart from time to time.
I pray God grants you more understanding in Jesus’ name!
Good morning! And Yes Happy New Month!
It will be a month of good reports for you! New things begin in your life this month! This month, you are shielded, protected, and enveloped in His love in Jesus’ name!
There is nothing as frustrating as losing one’s way or ending in a place that leads nowhere. Yet, life is often punctuated with dark tunnels, seemingly long unending roads meandering nowhere and often ending in the most absurd places.
And this happens a lot in our love life! Happily ever after is not always lived happily! We often fall so much in love that we lose the sense of all reason and become oblivious to apparent lapses.
We even often turn a deaf ear to all warning voices, choosing to ignore and disregard them, only for those voices to reverberate loudly on the marital road.
Well, the reality is that God doesn’t want you lost, confused, disconcerted, and perpetually living at a loss of what to do, where to go, and who to settle down with.
Avoiding Blind Alleys and Wrong Turns
In the twelfth verse of the fourth chapter of the book of Proverbs, as seen in The Message Translation, we see it aptly documented!
I don’t want you ending up in blind alleys, or wasting time making wrong turns.
The question here this morning is “Will you allow Him”
“Will you cooperate with divinity so that your humanity can align with God who doesn’t want you meandering in blind alleys or stuck in wrong turns?
Blind alleys will cause marital injuries, because not only are you blind and can’t see your loved one, you can’t even see yourself!
Wrong turns will waste your precious time, falling in love with the one that is not in love with you.
Wrong turns will sap your energy, cause weariness of the soul and make life uninteresting!
Avoiding Blind Alleys and Wrong Turns
No wonder, the lover of your soul says He doesn’t want you ending up in such places!
That is never His plan for you!
I challenge you this morning to cooperate with Him and let Him lead you!
Remember you are the sheep of His pasture and He is the shepherd of your soul!
