God was there before I knew I needed Him
Once I worked with a couple who had enjoyed a life of mutual pleasure in participating in the porn industry. Then they both had a spiritual awakening, which is good news except for this one little problem: they woke up with different dreams.
The guy thought that he could love Jesus and prostitutes; the wife thought that if she loved Jesus her husband had to stop loving on the prostitutes. Eventually the marriage collapsed. But I kind of understood the both perspectives.
“Hey, she used to be a willing participant! Now she acts like I am a sinner of all sinners but she never mentions that this is a major shift in her perspective! I feel duped. The bible says she should submit to me. I feel like she is ridiculing me with this sanctimonious BS and demanding a divorce - which I personally think is a sin. What’s up with THAT?”
Ok, he has a point. His wife had made some shifts in her core values; he had made some shifts in his - but they were at odds. Should they or should they not get a divorce? Is this an issue of a wife not submitting to her husband? Or is this a husband committing adultery and thereby voiding the covenant of marriage?
I do not know how to parse all this out on most days, but I know this, and it is a pretty important truth:
But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask.
James 1:5
All of us have issues; and sometimes these issues compete for our attention. Many days they feel insurmountable. But through it all, we need to take into account that God is not keeping score and he is willing to give us wisdom. This is a huge promise. No matter where we come from, not matter our past, God gives wisdom to all people without a second thought. I think this encouragement speaks to us about the promise of a future hope if we allow our heavenly father to do for us what perhaps we haven’t received from other mortals.
