Comments on: Mark 10:1-12 http://dream.uk.net/wpblog/2008/02/12/mark-101-12/ reading the bible as a community Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:12:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Wend http://dream.uk.net/wpblog/2008/02/12/mark-101-12/#comment-2350 Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:49:25 +0000 http://dream.uk.net/wpblog/2008/02/12/mark-101-12/#comment-2350 DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED unless like me you've had a terrific battle with this in real life....What happens if you have to face this for real, not just for theological debate? I found that Satan gets on in there and twists scripture to suit his evil purposes just like he did with Jesus in the desert. There are plenty of verses (eg Matt5, Luke16,Malachi 2) which all say the same thing - that divorce is not God's intention. And I still believe that. I still believe that a marriage is for life, and when I got married (to a Christian) I meant the "till death us do part" because that's God's intention. But when my marriage ended, these verses were used by the enemy to condemn me and it took me months to be able to trust that it was really God who was saying "get divorced". My story is that God told me I had to admit defeat after battling for 10 years to maintain a marriage; my exhusband (a Christian, which made it even worse) eventually admitted that he married me to make homosexual feelings go away....and he'd realised that this wasn't going to happen within 6months of us getting married! I really struggled to believe that this "get divorced" was truly God speaking: "But what about all my efforts God? My sacrifices? My broken dreams? My turning the other cheek? The way I've had to make excuses with my family, my church family? It's really cost me over this last 10 years God to try and find things to love, and when I couldn't love how I initially could, to still maintain a fraternal love! I've made the best of a bad job for years so after all that, God, HOW CAN IT BE YOUR WILL to let it go because Your word says marriage is sacred!!! Read these verses that You've put in Your word.....!!!!" But check out Matthew 19's version of this: v8-9 where Jesus adds "except for marital unfaithfulness". It took a lot of agonising prayer over several months before I believed that God was telling me that it was His will that my divorce happened. It took a heck of a lot of private prayer before I could admit that this was God speaking. And even more to have the strength to see it through God has let me out, because it was His will for me that the marriage ended. Not His original intention for marriage at all - but sometimes it is His will for individuals DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED unless like me you’ve had a terrific battle with this in real life….What happens if you have to face this for real, not just for theological debate?

I found that Satan gets on in there and twists scripture to suit his evil purposes just like he did with Jesus in the desert. There are plenty of verses (eg Matt5, Luke16,Malachi 2) which all say the same thing - that divorce is not God’s intention. And I still believe that. I still believe that a marriage is for life, and when I got married (to a Christian) I meant the “till death us do part” because that’s God’s intention. But when my marriage ended, these verses were used by the enemy to condemn me and it took me months to be able to trust that it was really God who was saying “get divorced”.

My story is that God told me I had to admit defeat after battling for 10 years to maintain a marriage; my exhusband (a Christian, which made it even worse) eventually admitted that he married me to make homosexual feelings go away….and he’d realised that this wasn’t going to happen within 6months of us getting married!

I really struggled to believe that this “get divorced” was truly God speaking: “But what about all my efforts God? My sacrifices? My broken dreams? My turning the other cheek? The way I’ve had to make excuses with my family, my church family? It’s really cost me over this last 10 years God to try and find things to love, and when I couldn’t love how I initially could, to still maintain a fraternal love! I’ve made the best of a bad job for years so after all that, God, HOW CAN IT BE YOUR WILL to let it go because Your word says marriage is sacred!!! Read these verses that You’ve put in Your word…..!!!!”

But check out Matthew 19’s version of this: v8-9 where Jesus adds “except for marital unfaithfulness”. It took a lot of agonising prayer over several months before I believed that God was telling me that it was His will that my divorce happened. It took a heck of a lot of private prayer before I could admit that this was God speaking. And even more to have the strength to see it through

God has let me out, because it was His will for me that the marriage ended. Not His original intention for marriage at all - but sometimes it is His will for individuals

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