Did you know that we can either have God's perfect will in our lives, but we can miss that and he will permit us to have his permissive will instead?
I learned that later in my life, that indeed I had missed his perfect will in my life and went through some very hard things for years to come and had to learn some very hard lessons.
As a teenager, my father quoted quite often to me the scripture in 2 Corinthians 6:14. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what has righteousness have to do with wickedness or what light has to do with darkness?
As a teen, I was a believer. So basically, I should have had no excuse and yet coming from the background that I did, and being that teens do not fully have brains that have grown enough to remotely even look to the consequences of my actions, I disobeyed his warnings and married at the age of 18. At some point, I became painfully aware that I had been so unprepared to even be a wife and then a mother which happened soon after, until it was much later and I almost got to the place that there was no hope.
Things in that situation got pretty desperate for me for the next 15 years of marriage. However, God does have a way of getting our attention. The bad thing for me was that it took that long to get it and things by that time could have ended badly had it not been for the fact that I did get it and God had me right where I needed to be.
Looking back on that time, I have learned the difference between the two. I had taken what I wanted. What I shouldn't have had. I can even remember praying the night before my wedding that God would just let me have this man for a little while because since I knew he wasn't a Christian, I wasn't sure God would really let me have him for a lifetime. I was happy that evening praying that because I wasn't looking to the future. And really had no sensible way of doing that in my youth with little experience of the world. Except that I should have listened to my dad.
God had granted my request. Not only did he allow the wedding to go through, but here I am 48 years later married to the same man. Things only began to change after that 15-year mark when finally I let God catch up with me. Or perhaps it was I who caught up to him. Whatever the case, even my husband got saved during that time when he too came to the end of himself. We went on to raise our 4 children which we had in those first 15 years and while things did get better and somewhat easier and God has answered so many of our prayers for us as a family-it still has not been without much conflict and strife at times too. And I know that is the same for many families for marriage is not easy. We are human and sinful and life is hard. But I also knew if I had not married an unbeliever, perhaps my life would not have been as difficult as it can be still to this day.
Today I am living more in God's perfect will as it can be today despite what my life has been in the past. And it is a long way from being in his permissible will that he allowed me when I did not know better, and yet did know better. At least I cannot say I had not been warned and my dad went through his own dismay watching me through those years, knowing that he had given me permission to marry and yet knew that I was going to have problems. Watching me during those years had to have caused him pain in his own way. In his quiet times at night praying for us. Thankfully, there did come a day when he could rejoice and he and my husband became quite close in later years.
God knows we are human and he does let us have our way if we insist upon it. But that is not what he really wants for us. How can we then know what his perfect will is? How can we tell the difference? What does the bible say about it? Come back tomorrow for my answers to those questions.
Have a blessed day Friends. I hope you will come back tomorrow!
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