Not the Wisdom of Men but the Power of God

I had an idea for how I wanted to write this post. I started writing it but couldn't order my thoughts and couldn't figure out how I was going to express everything that has happened with my wife and me over the past week. After last night, it finally hit me. The Lord does not want me to tell all the details because they are not meant for everyone.

What He wants me to share starts off with a verse in 1 Corinthians 2:5

[Y]our faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

This happened on Monday night, February 11, after my wife came home from a Bible study and heard a friend share her testimony that closely resembled that of my wife's. I was sitting on the couch wanting my wife to come in and sit with me but she was on the computer writing to friends sharing what she heard that night. Normally I would have turned on the TV to watch something that I really didn't care about but this time I heard a tapping from my Bible saying, "Hey, remember me? Why don't you pick me up and read a little bit?" I picked it up and though about what I wanted to read. My wife had read a verse from 1 Corinthians the day before and it was fitting for the day so I thought, "Why not, lets go to 1 Corinthians and read the first couple of chapters."

I finished chapter 1 and started on chapter 2. When I read verse 5 I couldn't read anymore. My eyes stayed fixed on this verse and I felt something important about it. I stared at it for a few seconds trying to figure out why it seemed so important. After a few more minutes of thinking how the verse relates to my situation, I read on to the end of chapter 2. The chapter goes on to talk about spiritual wisdom then chapter 3 goes on to talk about God's work in us and how we need to build on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.

When I went to bed that night I knew that the verse was important (that night also included another major event but that will be shared at another time). That Monday night set off a series of events that have changed my life, changed my marriage, changed my wife, and showed the power of God.

Two significant decisions in our lives allowed all of this to happen. First of all, I decided that it was time to start tithing without excuse. We have always known the power and blessing involved in tithing but we convinced ourselves that we needed the money more than we needed to submit to God and offer it back to Him. Secondly, we decided it was time to listen and start waking up together each morning around 5 or 5:30 am to devote the first part of our day to the Lord. They are essentially the same thing. They are both acts of trust by giving the Lord the first fruits of our lives, tithing being the financial aspect of our lives and rising early being the time in our lives.

God wants us to offer Him the first of what we have. He says in Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

When we truly started seeking Him first, His fountain of Living Waters was poured out onto us. We received blessings beyond our imagination and will continue to do so because of the life changing events that took place between Monday and Friday.

During this week, both my wife and I saw visions, I received a word of prophecy (1 Corinthians 2:5), and our story unfolded in a way that seemed like a fictional movie script that would make most people say, "Yeah right, you made this stuff up!"

I was going to write all the details but they are already written down in 2 Chronicles chapter 20:1-30. This week was a spiritual battle over my wife between God and Satan. My wife has had a lifetime of pain, sorrow, rejection, hurt, fear, and doubt brought on by the failures of many in her life. This battle started from the time she was born into a situation of chaos and irresponsibility. Satan tried to destroy the life of a little girl and nearly succeeded many times but God kept His hedge of protection around her. He did let in some pain and did allow her to do some things but the whole story would be (and will be in the the future) used to show His glory, grace, and power.

If you want the details of the story, read through 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 because our week perfectly parallels these events down to the smallest of details. The one thing I will say is that the week ended with me literally casting all of that pain, sorrow, rejection, hurt, fear, and doubt into the Willamette River once and for all. Through the power of God, this "victory" was won and His "grace" was poured out on her and me.

Through all of this, I have seen things that I would have laughed at before if someone had told me that I would go through them or that they had gone through them. Heavy burdens have been lifted from both of us and my wife is now free to be used by God to do amazing things. I am not much of a crier, but I have been in near constant tears for the past 6 days. I cannot wait for Sunday because that will be the 7th day, the day of rest, the last day before we start the rest of our lives on Monday in the Valley of Blessings.