THE COMFORT PROJECT - #3 "YOUR HUSBAND IS GOING TO JAIL"

IMAGINE YOUR HUSBAND BEING FALSELY ACCUSED OF A CRIME THAT COULD SEND HIM TO PRISON FOR YEARS.  ADD TO THAT ALMOST $40,000 IN LEGAL BILLS WHICH WOULD CAUSE YOU TO LOSE YOUR VERY HOME. THIS WOMAN, PREFERRING TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS SHARES THE COMFORT SHE RECEIVED FROM GOD:

Next month we will celebrate the three-year anniversary of the deliverance God brought about for my family and me. I am here to tell you that the deliverance The Lord wrought for us were no less miraculous, no less grand, than the parting of waters or the shaking of prison foundations.

We have been serving The Lord for over 21 years, and 7 years ago we faced something that threatened to tear our family apart and separate us forever. 

 We had been married 11 years, our son was seven years old son and our daughter was four. We had a strong marriage, a strong faith in God, and we served Him wholeheartedly. One day, there came a knock on our door and we were given news that would change our lives forever:

My husband had been falsely accused of a crime, and the threat of imprisonment hung over us for a period of four long years. 

From one day to the next we did not know if he would be taken from us. He was a loving husband, a wonderful father, and a Godly man. Up to that point we had had our share of small trials, but what we were to encounter in the years following, would test our faith in God, and our resolve to stay married. We served in a thriving, wonderful church for many years, and had felt called to leave that fellowship of believers, as we felt The Lord leading us to a new home church.  It was at this time in our lives that our faith was tested, as 2 Corinthians states “beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired of life itself.” During this time our church family supported us in prayer, and we experienced God in a way we had never known Him before.  I would daily cry out to God and wonder how in the world He could ever use this mess to encourage others.  It was shameful to even talk about.  But it was during this time that we learned to trust God, and depend solely on Him. We came to know God as our only source of strength; we learned to trust Him as our sole provider when it seemed we would lose our home due to the crushing legal debt. We saw God provide for us in more ways than there is time or space to tell.

However, I want to share with you a few things that He taught me during this critical time in our lives; namely, that God is absolutely able to give “peace that passes understanding” in the midst of crushing difficulty. It was an indescribable peace, causing us to stand up under the weight of the trial. And trust me when I say, there were days when I found breathing difficult. But God sustained me.

Secondly, there is nothing God cannot do in answer to prayer! 

We saw 2 Corinthians being played out before our eyes.  As the church stood in the gap for us, God delivered us from the hand of the enemy.  The Lord even placed it on the heart of someone we did not even know to pay a legal debt in the amount of $38,000.00! (No strings attached). As the church continued to intercede on our behalf the case was dismissed after four grueling years and many, many tears.

Lastly, I learned to worship God simply because He is worthy. 

I recall one time specifically crying out to God asking Him not to allow my husband to be taken from us. It was during this time in prayer as I was pondering the account of Paul and Silas that I realized that these men chose to worship God not because their circumstances were ideal, far from it! 

Despite being in prison chains, despite the flogging, despite their circumstances, they worshipped God.  It was at this time I surrendered the circumstances to God, asking Him to do what He felt was best, believing that if He wanted me to be a single mother, He would grant me the strength and wisdom I would require. I wanted to come to the place that Job had found himself in. I wanted to worship God whether He gave, or took away. And that is the safest, most secure place to be. 

In closing, know that wherever you may find yourself the Prince of Peace Himself will walk with you, He will sustain you, and He will deliver you, causing you to worship  simply because He is worthy of all of our praise and trust.

The Lord bless you.

ND