Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website, called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose three testimonies from the Marriage/Family Category. Satan is attacking our families, and I think it can help us to see that God is looking out for us. Satan wants to destroy families, but God wants to preserve them. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray that when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation, too. I pray you know that God wants to be there with you, and if you invite Him into your family issues, He can help. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website, called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose three testimonies from the Marriage/Family Category. Satan is attacking our families, and I think it can help us to see that God is looking out for us. Satan wants to destroy families, but God wants to preserve them. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray that when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation, also. I pray you know that God wants to be there with you, and if you invite Him into your family issues, He can help.
First up is Alice. It was pitch black and pouring rain on the night of Alice and her sons’ escape. Alice’s husband had become violently abusive, and Alice had put up with his beatings for a long time. Initially, Alice thought it was best to have her two sons raised by both parents, but she began to grow fearful of the safety of her children. One day, she finally gathered the courage to leave her abusive household behind.
On the stormy night of the escape, Alice and her sons were led by a series of phone calls from Alice’s father. Each call directed them to another location, which ultimately led to a shelter for the night. The next day, the rain stopped, and Alice and her sons stepped into the sunshine to take a walk. For the first time, they felt free.
Matthew was so inspired by this story, that he wrote a song about it called, Into the Light. It is Matthew’s hope that Alice’s story and this song will encourage anyone else secretly trying to cope with an abusive spouse to speak up, get help, and step into the light. Further, Matthew hopes that Into the Light can be a metaphor for any storyteller to step out of the darkness and tell their story, because our God is the Light of the World!
Next we have Julie’s story. Three and a half years ago, Julie was broken. The world as she knew it was crashing down around her when she found out her husband cheated on her, and her marriage consequently failed. Julie was devastated and thought she would never find a spouse again. But then, God answered her prayers and brought a new man into her life. Soon, Julie was swept away by her new love and knew that this man would finally be her fairytale marriage that would last forever.
Then, it happened. Julie learned that her new husband committed adultery. Her heart was pierced with a hurt so bad that it was hard for her to breathe. She was filled with so many emotions and thoughts. She couldn’t believe that this would happen to her again. She thought to herself, “Just leave! You did it before, and it was an easy way out, and it won’t hurt as bad.” But instead of leaving, Julie got on her knees and prayed to the Healer, the only One who could get her through this. As she prayed, she felt God’s arms wrap around her. He quickly reminded her that her husband’s sinful act was not from Him, but from the evil one. Comforted by God’s love and healing, Julie decided that she would stay and fight for her marriage.
Julie found strength in Ephesians 6 and put on the full armor of God. She was tirelessly on her knees praying and reading His Word. Even though her husband lost his church job because of this sin, and every day was a struggle for them to get through, Julie was determined that Satan was not going to win. The battle was easier to fight with Christ back in the center of their marriage. Julie learned that with God, marriage is never too far-gone. Today, the enemy no longer has a stronghold over Julie’s marriage. The Lord was with Julie through all of this and lavished her with peace and strength. Her marriage is stronger than it has ever been, and all of the glory goes to God!
And last but not least, we have Joe. Joe was unfaithful to his wife by having an affair with another woman. Resigned to believe that the grass would really be greener on the other side, and feeling like too much damage had already been done to repair what was broken, Joe packed his things to leave for good when the phone rang. On the phone was an old friend pleading with Joe to stop and think twice before he made the choice to throw everything away.
Joe reluctantly went to meet with his friend. His friend helped redirect Joe’s heart and reminded him of the “Joe” he used to know. Joe realized what he needed to do. He raced back home, hoping for the chance to beg for forgiveness from his best friend. He expected to find a cold shoulder or a door slammed in his face, and knew he would deserve it, but was willing to do anything to get his marriage back. Instead of finding a cold shoulder, Joe returned home to find his wife running to meet him in the driveway, wrapping him in an embrace he would never forget.
Matthew, moved by Joe’s story of redemption, wrote the song Restored. Although Joe walked away from the riches of God’s blessing of marriage, God’s grace stepped in nonetheless. With God’s help, Joe’s wife found the strength to forgive Joe and was able to trust that God would restore a marriage that the enemy tried to destroy.
I am very grateful to Matthew West and his father for giving people a space where they can tell their story. People’s testimonies are so important because it not only gives glory to God, but it also shows us that we are not alone. Other people are going through stuff too. If God can help them through it, He can help us through it too. I invite you to consider sharing your story, or a story of a time in your life when God came through, even though it felt like he might not. You may feel like it is not that important of a story, but I guarantee that someone needs to hear it today. Please think about it.