Your Husband

I read this testimony on Lar's Rambling from the Cove blog. 
Lars recounts a letter Elisabeth Elliot had saved in her files. 

“I am writing because in the beginning of our marriage, my salvation changed me but very much strained our marriage. Your words and teaching were used by God to make all the difference in accepting, loving and submitting to my husband. I will say that without your words of wisdom and straight-from-the-hip counsel, I would have crumbled. God strengthen my heart and led me obediently in His will. 

What I would like to share with you is that after I was saved God had put into my heart the desire to pray for a man to come into my husband’s life that could love him and live the Gospel before him. Godly men would come and go, my husband was a tough-as-nails kind of guy, a police officer and his childhood was rough. 

There were times when our marriage seemed to be held together by a thread, a thread of grace. I often wondered how we stayed together. We loved each other but like oil and water, light and dark, we were different. God continued to provide the grace to persevere and love my husband as my head and honor him. After 33 years, that desire to pray for a man never lessened. 

When we found out that Charlie had cancer, my son Charlie Jr. came to his dad and shared the Gospel and he was saved. My son had always loved his dad even when they often had conflicts and strong disagreements while growing up. But over the years I watched my son love his Dad for the Gospel sake, even siding against himself for his dad.

 I came to realize that I had been raising the man God had given me the desire to pray for. How amazing. Indeed, God’s time for my husband’s salvation was to be 4 months before he died and I can say that God had transformed all the years of suffering to be like Christ’s and joy and glory were set before him.”

INSPIRING. 

What if that mom had been divisive?  What if, rather then respecting her husband she belittled him or talked badly about him? What if she taught her son to do the same? 

We don't know what we are building today. We have to walk in obedience and faith and by His grace, He will do it. 

Let us, by God's grace, only say what is good and helpful. Let us be a joyful tool in the hand of the Lord.