I am a wife and mother of three. My husband and I have been together, as a couple, for almost a decade. Our story began after a very difficult time in my life. A time when I thought all men were scum of the earth. God used Tim (my husband) to show me that God had created men. He created men to be manly. He created men for His glory. The boys that had been in my life up to that point had no lived up to what God had created them to be. A man follows after God's heart. A man seeks righteousness. A man protects his bride. A man lives for God's glory. A man gives up everything to the LORD. When I met my husband he was not that kind of man. He would agree with me on this. He was not a believer, which for a girl who had loved Jesus her whole life (but had made some horrible mistakes with boys) Tim scared me when I began to have feelings for him. I didn't want to go down that path again. The path of...."I love Jesus so much that I can change everything wrong with that boy!" NO!
Ladies: You do not love Jesus enough to change anyone!
The only one who can change a heart
is the one who created it.
"A new heart I will give you
and a new spirit I will put within you,
and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh."
Ezekiel 36:26 AMP
I did the only thing I knew to do when Tim became my friend and I began to have feelings for him. I prayed for those feelings to go away. HA! I told the Lord that I couldn't go through that heartbreak again. It hurt too much. I NEEDED the feelings for Tim to go away. (I am so glad God knew what I actually needed.)
I prayed for Tim that he would come to know the Lord but in the past when I had prayed for another boy's salvation nothing came of it. Not because God didn't hear me but because the other boy's heart was hardened (stony) against the Lord.
Tim and I became close friends. My feelings for him grew daily despite my efforts to get rid of them. I focused on my creator and slowly God revealed to me that Tim was the man I would marry someday. With that, my feelings of caring for Tim turned to falling in love with him. I wasn't falling for the guy that Tim was in that moment. I was falling for the man that God had created him to be. Tim's heart turned to the Lord. He gave his life to his Heavenly Father and my heart rejoiced! My future husband was gripped by the Father! Our relationship blossomed from friendship to courtship. Tim was becoming the man that God had created him to be. He protects me. He seeks righteousness. He follows after God's heart. He lives for God's glory and he as given everything to the LORD. As our 6th wedding anniversary approaches, I think about the journey that Tim and I have been on. I remember how God used Tim to show me how a real man is suppose to act and treat his bride. I am thankful that the Lord brought me through the most difficult time in my life. Jesus wrapped His arms around me and carried me through. {He is still carrying me.} He gave me a man after His own heart when I thought I deserved the scum. The Lord brought Tim and I closer to Him, which in turn brought us closer together.
As you go throughout your week, remember that your Heavenly Father made the men in your life to be who He created them to be. It is much easier to treat them with the respect they deserve when you see them through God's eyes. Pray for them daily to become men after God's own heart. If you are not yet married, pray for your future husband. He needs you supporting him in prayer even if you haven't met. If you are a married woman, pray for and with your husband daily. It is so easy to get caught up with kids, chores, work and duty that we forget to pray for our husbands. I hope that we can remember to encourage the men in our lives to become fully His in every aspect of their lives. I hope that in turn you will seek after your Heavenly Father. You are His precious daughter.
“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.”-Maya Angelou
-Hadassah
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