You had high hopes, you dreamed of a life together, and it ended horribly, with a breakup, or worse a divorce or death. Of course, we need to take a time to heal, but then let’s reject pessimism. After all, we serve the God of resurrection, right?!
During our private counseling sessions, we often meet singles who have been hurt by a relationship in the past. Disappointed with their previous relationship, they then engage in relationships with partners that are far from their values. They believe that their initial expectations were too high; or that they were fools to hope for a harmonious relationship. So, these singles start to reduce their expectations, they remove very important criteria from their list to find a partner. After that, they just start saying that “love doesn’t exist”.
This pessimistic attitude is normal for any human being. To avoid being hurt again, we choose not to dream. It is a very human reaction. But when we give our lives to Jesus, we are no longer of this world (John 17:16)! And if we are not of this world, then, we don’t have to be burdened by this defeatist attitude.
In the Old Testament, when a person had a special experience with God, they used one of His attributes to give a specific name to the place where it happened. Take the example of Abraham in Genesis 22. In obedience, the patriarch was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac. At the last moment, an angel stopped Abraham’s hand and he saw a ram caught in a bush. He offered this animal instead of his son in sacrifice. Verse 14 (KJV) says, “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.” Jehovah Jireh : God who provides.
Gideon was hit by the peace that God Himself made, and he appointed his altar: Jehovah Shalom (Judges 6:24) In Exodus 15, God assures his people, saying that He is “the Lord who heals you” or Jehovah Rapha. In fact, God is so powerful, so complete, that there are no words to really describe Him. In Him, we find everything we need. This is why when Moses asked Him his name, God simply responded with “I am” (Exodus 3:14). We just have to complete this sentence with our need. Need financial wisdom? God says : “I Am… wisdom”. Need justice, He says : “I am… your righteousness”. We serve the God of peace, the faithful God, the God of love.
Need to resurrect the dream of a happy marriage? He is the God of resurrection! God clearly proved that He has the power to resurrect what is dead: Jesus is, of course, the best example. In the dream of Ezekiel, God showed him that He can recreate a complete army from dry bones (Ezekiel 37). He is Almighty. He created the universe and He has lost none of His creative power. It may be time to hand Him the bones of your dream of a happy marriage. He will take your ashes and transform them into something beautiful!
God can resurrect your dream of having a happy marriage. An imperfect man or woman, marrying another imperfect being, but both partners holding the hand of God in their relationship. Yes, it exists! We must recognize our mistakes in our previous relationships, be humble enough to accept improvement, but let’s not stop believing in God’s promises. Jesus is no longer in the tomb, He has risen. And the same God who raised Him up has not changed. He can also get your dreams out of their graves.