“Paul shook the snake into the fire and suffered no harm.” (Acts 28:5)
Dear brides,
I would like to highly recommend the lesson below to you. Please listen to the podcast Erin created. Because it is indeed important that we women know what our emotions can do to us if we do not realize where they come from.
https://loveatlast.org/living-lessons/week-4-convicted/
what I learned from this lesson is how we women can be fooled by the hormones that we as women sometimes feel running through our bodies and thoughts. I would like to share with you through my testimony what happened to me last weekend.
To do this, let me go back to last week where I shared my joy with you with a praise report that my son wanted to give his tithe. My son has had a less pleasant period in recent months. So as we have learned here, our Lord's protection is complete for those who honor Him with the tithe of all that you have received. As a mother you want nothing more than for your children to do well. And in addition, the fruits were already visible in my son. But what we are also all learning here is that the enemy does not like us to have the Abundant Life here and now. And there the ordeal began. What I certainly didn't expect, I received a message from my former husband asking why our son tithed. I have answered the question. Then I got a call from my former husband who was so angry about the fact that he had not been informed or discussed with him. I immediately had to return the amount to our son. Dear brides, I am telling you this because no matter how bad the situation looks or what mistake you have made. He has a plan for it.
Indeed, I have not discussed or bothered to discuss our son's tithing with him. My former husband has put his faith aside for now. And even though I know that my Lord will one day turn His heart back to Him. I decided with my own mind that I didn't need to discuss it. So Foolish of me 😞 However, that doesn't work so dear brides. Now I know that even if your former husband does not want to know anything about his best friend, when you have co-parenting with your former husband, the guidance of our Lord is more than necessary to discuss certain topics or make them open for discussion.
At the end of the phone call I could no longer hold back my tears. I couldn't believe what had happened to me a few minutes earlier. The emotions, disappointment, indignation, rejection and incomprehension quickly turned into the question of why my Lord had not protected me from this attack. I didn't deserve this anyway. I preferred to lock myself in my bedroom and then only come out many hours later. Unfortunately, that was not possible because the children needed my care and attention. I felt down and heartbroken for the rest of the day. Tears stung my eyes. I was very happy when I was finally alone in the evening. However, then the rollercoaster of emotions started to intensify. I felt so alone. I didn't know exactly why because I hadn't felt like that in a while. Indeed, as you will read in the lesson, the mistake I made brought shame and condemnation. I couldn't understand how I thought I could just do this.
Dear brides, I know this is a long praise, but please bear with me for a moment because I certainly think that sometimes we do not realize in which deep corners of our hearts things are hidden within us. That need to be cleared away to become an even more perfect bride of our Lord. It is then necessary that He shaves off a deep part at once.
And that hurts. I've always been afraid of making mistakes. Especially for the mistakes that I could have imagined if I had taken a little more time to wait for my Lord's guidance instead of running ahead of Him. I now know that those mistakes, dear brides, are not bad. He will never judge me. His love will forgive me when I tell Him.
That evening and night I let my tears flow, poured out my whole heart. Begging Him to send me the encouragement that would keep me from giving up. Because yes brides, I was about to let go of His hand and let go of the hope I had found here. Back to the wide road. How stubborn His love is. The next morning, tired from the night, salvation came. First via this post on the African website https://uiteindelikhoop.com/saaityd-en-oestyd/ and then via the "Living Lesson 4". The weight of guilt and shame fell away as I realized more and more that no mistake I will make will condemn me. I am and will always be and will be forgiven.
When I woke up this morning I felt His love flowing through me so intensely that once again I could not hold back my tears. This time they were tears of joy. The trial was intense but the joy I feel now has given me new strength and hope to be closer to Him.
The double blessing He has given me is that in a phone conversation this morning my former husband admitted his realization of his angry behavior and what it has done to me. Has apologized twice. I didn't expect this...OOOOOOOOh how He Loves me.
So dear brides, don't give up, hold on to Him, no matter how painful it may be and sometimes despair may want to overwhelm you. Keep crying out to Him for He is indeed there where you are and then lifts you up and makes your feet more agile so that you can walk further along the narrow road.
Much Love🌹
Hi Kristine. Thank you for sharing your praise. I’m glad to hear you were eventually able to shake it off and not let go of His hand and ran to Him with your tears. Years ago, I had done that and I’m so grateful he brought me back to Him through my broken heart again.
I love this little “Teacup Story” from an unknown author.
The Teacup Story
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.
One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful cup. They said, “May we see that? We’ve never seen one quite so beautiful.”
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the cup spoke. “You don’t understand,” it said. “I haven’t always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, ‘let me alone,’ but he only smiled, ‘Not yet.’
“Then I was placed on a spinning wheel,” the cup said, “and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. Stop it! I’m getting dizzy! I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, ‘Not yet.’
“Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat!” the teacup said. “I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as He shook his head, ‘Not yet.’
“Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. ‘There, that’s better,’ I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Stop it, stop it!’ I cried. He only nodded, ‘Not yet.’
“Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening, nodding his head saying, ‘Not yet.’
“Then I knew there wasn’t any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf.
One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, ‘Look at yourself.’ And I did. I said, ‘That’s not me; that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful.’
“‘I want you to remember, then,’ he said, ‘I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you’d have dried up.
I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.
I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked.
I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life.
And if I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t survive for very long because the hardness would not have held.
Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'”
~ Author Unknown
My sweet Kristine, thank you so much for being so real and honest! Our feelings and emotions are awful sometimes! We feel so hurt and in despair, completely broken and alone. And that is what the enemy wants, to separate us from the love of our lives, to feel full of pain and shame. But our Beloved is the most amazing Husband in the world. He patiently looks for us and takes away the pain, shame, and hurt. What a journey are we in. It took me a while to surrender daily my feelings and emotions, to understand that what I feel may not be true, to take a step back and cry my eyes out to Him, so my eyes can be open again to His care and love!
Jeremiah 17:9 ” The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
Thank you dear Kristine for this praise report and just opening your heart. Our wonderful Lord really loves us so much. He is die best Healer of all our hurt emotions.
Nice testimony Kristine! What a beautiful Clestial Husband you have who compensated you and showed you her sweetness. After the storm the sun comes out!
Thank you Kristine for sharing your heart, how wonderful to know we are forgiven and we do not have to continue carrying the quilt and shame of our sins. But the enemy do want us to stay in that state of feeling guilt and shame to keep us from His love and grace, trying to built a wall between us and the Lord our Husband, but we can rejoice in the fact that our Husband totally forgave us and washes us clean with His word. We do not have to carry the heavy burden of guilt and shame, we can give it to Him.