Charlyne Cares Daily Devotional - Helping Stop Divorce God's Way

Each Monday we share a guest devotional written by a fellow stander. The views expressed below are those of the writer and may not reflect the views of Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc. or the Steinkamps. 

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Invite God's Help

Have you ever noticed how often we have heard that when we are in troubled waters, we need to pray? We hear stories of persons crying out to God for deliverance during times of personal crisis. We ourselves have had that experience of crying out to God in times of our own need. We often forget about praising God during the good times and only seek His face when we find ourselves in troubled waters. That is just human nature, our lack of understanding of our awesome God and of His boundless love for us.

What we need to do is to invite God to walk with us at all times, both in the good times and in the bad times, not just through the valley of our troubles, our crumbling marriages, and our broken relationships. When we invite God to wipe away our tears of anguish, we invite Him to point us in the direction of healing, and to share in the glory of victory over our problems.

Second Chronicles 20:15b reads: "For the battle is not ours, but God's." We need to invite God's intervention, His help. Let us look at several familiar scriptures that reaffirm God's love for us when we invite His help.

"A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." Psalm 23

This is probably the one scripture most quoted in times of need, in times of sorrow, in times of anguish. Here David invites God to walk with him during troubled times. I know personally that when my first wife was ill and later died, this was one of the scriptures I looked to for comfort. For it says "The LORD is my shepherd..." which means that He looks after me and cares about me. He has my personal well- being upper most on His mind. He loves me!

Notice that next statement; "I shall not be in want." God fills my needs, my every need, at the time of my trials, at all times. What does He do next? "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

When I invite God into my situation, He brings comfort and revives me; He calms my restless spirit. He directs my footsteps in ways that conform to His moral will, thus bringing honor to His name. Then with God walking with me, He will lead me through the dark times of my life.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Oh, how comforting it is to know that God is there with me, fighting my battles, protecting me, binding up my wounds. As He triumphs over my adversaries, He brings me to that place of quiet rest.

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." When I realize how much God loves and cares for me, He directs my thoughts.

"Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." God offers me peace, a perfect peace, a place of quiet rest. I need only to invite God's help.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we find another scripture of reassurance:

"Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" Matthew 19:26

Here we just need to realize that God is God. He is all powerful, all knowing; He is pure love. He is in control. He can do things (modern day miracles) in our lives and in our spouses' lives that you and I cannot even begin to do. He can also work miracles in our other relationships as well. We just need to invite God's help.

So how do we invite God's help? We need only to seek His face through prayer. From The Message, we read;

"Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray long and hard." Ephesians 6:18

Brothers and Sisters, we are in a war! A war for our souls and the souls of our loved ones. Satan is our enemy. His schemes and methods are simple. He comes to kill, steal, or destroy. So we need help. When we invite God's help through prayer, He becomes our defender, and the battle becomes His, not ours. We by ourselves cannot win the battle because Satan is more powerful than us.

We, however, have a trump card, the Cross. We have prayer and we invite our Holy Father, His son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to take our side. Satan was defeated at Calvary and we, as professing Christians, are covered by the Blood of Jesus. Through prayer, we re- affirm the faith relationship and seek God's intervention in our lives. We need only to put our total trust in Him and His promises.

"[God] will keep in perfect peace all who trust in [God], whose thoughts are fixed on [God]." Isaiah 26:3 NLT

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me...Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:1,27

So dear Brothers and Sisters, when we trust in God and invite His help, we will have peace in our hearts and victory over our adversary, Satan. The battle for our marriages and our relationships is not ours, but God's.

May God bless each of you in your stand.
Ben, standing in Texas, until parted by death.

Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
Post Office Box 10548
Pompano Beach, FL 33061 USA
http://rejoiceministries.org  

Devotional Copyright© 2010 Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.

Scripture quoted by permission and are from the Holy Bible; New International Version® Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.