He said he tried counseling before, and it didn’t work; “They just try to get you to get along.” I tried to convince him that this was different.
After some nagging he agreed to tell Gina. He called her on the phone and asked if she was interested in going to a marriage conference. He told me that she said, “No,” and that she said she didn’t really care about their marriage. I was proud of him for telling her.
I kept listening to Family Life Today on the radio, WAVA. I became their student. I wondered why I couldn’t figure it out myself. I’m smart. I should be able to figure out how to make a marriage work. I thought about it constantly. In one story a man’s wife was leaving him and he could not reason with her. He did not realize that she was also contemplating suicide. He became a Christian, told her the gospel, and their faith in Jesus healed their marriage. In another story, a couple was practically divorced, but the man became a Christian and went to his wife with a new perspective. The thing that got through to her was the idea that God had a plan for their marriage. They weren’t alone in this. Their marriage served a higher purpose.
Another story involved a Christian couple who struggled with constant disputes. They found their relief in prayer. Whenever they would start to quarrel, the husband would say, “Let’s pray.” Prayer got the focus off of them and onto God.
This was the key; God puts people together for His purposes. They need to stop trusting in their faulty efforts and trust the one who holds all things together.
