A young soldier fell in love with an American Red Cross girl and therefore decided to divorce his wife, with two kids. Upon his return to America, he asked his wife for a divorce saying he was in love with someone else (the Red Cross girl).

But his wife had a quaker upbringing, which meant that she had a quiet inner strength. She did not panic or fly into jealous rage. Instead she told her husband that she knew him better and would not give him the divorce. He pleaded and told her how unreasonable holding on to him sounded. She insisted that she believed God’s plan for them was to be together and not divorce, and that their marriage was only going through a storm that would soon pass.

The husband left home in annoyance and moved in with the Red Cross girl, hoping his wife would become frustrated and give in to his request, but the wife got on her knees and prayed to God for the restoration of her marriage. After a long wait, the Red Cross girl decided to leave him, having realized how ridiculous it was living with a married man that could not be her husband. By this time, the man was also missing his family.

He finally went back home amid tears and apologies to his wife, who welcomed him quietly. Saved by the emotional balance, prayers and good sense of a godly woman, the marriage was restored.

Every marriage is a ministry. This ministry, like every other, has its ups and downs, and no two marriages are exactly same. There is however a consolation, as written in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. There is a solution to every challenge faced in marriage and the strength of any marriage is dependent on the challenges it is able to overcome.

Just as shoe sizes are different, so are marital issues peculiar to individual experiences. The devil does not want successful and happy marriages. According to John 10:10, the devil’s aim is to kill, steal and destroy. There are various ways by which the devil tries to destroy marriages: infidelity, adultery, etc. The way to confront these vices will be discussed in other writings.

God has equipped you with the needed grace to handle your spouse, so do not easily give up on him/her. Just like the woman in the story, there is an inner strength in everyone to handle his/her spouse and home.

You may wish you could change your spouse or even think that you should not have married him/her, but remember that God is faithful and will not give you more than you can bear. You may say ‘you don’t know what I am going through’. You are right that I do not, but I know God’s ability to save the marriage of all who call on him. The way of escape stated in the Bible is not divorce; it is the inner strength from God to pray and fight through for our marriages. John 14:13 says, “Whatever you ask in my name, that I will do.” That is a blank cheque from God. You can ask for grace to handle your home. Some of your friends upon hearing your story might say, ‘I can’t stand such nonsense.’ They are absolutely right because they can stand theirs but not yours because you are involved in two different marriages and married to two different persons.

Statistics show that we have more divorces than we have stable marriages. The devil will have us believe that nothing can be done to save our marriages, but that is not true. Every one of us can do something, no matter how small. You will be amazed at the result. Ezekiel 22:30 says, “I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Be the one to stand in the gap for your spouse and family.