Saturday, February 14, 2009

Being Right vs. Being Content

About a year ago my husband and I went through the most difficult time of our life together. We were in a situation where we were so positive that what we were a part of was not of God, and yet we were still feeling as though God was telling us to be a part of it. We were treated unfairly, unjustly, and harshly. However, the Lord never gave us the freedom to express what we were feeling, or how we perceived our situation. We sought so much counsel, and advice from wiser men and women that our brains truly reached their capacity to hold anymore information. This difficult trial finally came to an end, thankfully. However, we never got justification or vindication. If you've ever been in a situation where you feel so completely right, and so completely misunderstood, than you know how frustrating that was for us. I am definitely the more opinionated between my husband and myself (some might say mouthy, but I preferred opinionated). Walking away quietly without explanation or justifying our actions was so hard for us. However, I am so thankful for what we learned through that experience.

First, trust your husband to lead. If he fails, that's okay. He will know better for the next time, because their will be a next time. If he doesn't fail, by all means, tell him how proud you are of him!

Second, God does not need our mouths to vindicate for Him. Use the least amount of words, hear your voice less than anyone and you will probably make the point God wants you to make. He is perfectly capable of letting the truth be known all on His own. For me to assume otherwise is not only ignorant, but disobedient.

Third, pleasing Jesus is the only thing that matters. Being right is so far down on the list of what matters in life. If no one but Jesus ever knows what you've done right, that is the only person that needs to know.

And lastly, be content. Move on, and and don't dwell on the past. Be happy for where God moves you and happy for where God takes your adversaries. If you don't --- you won't move forward with God, in fact, you will have learned absolutely nothing from your experience.

I can tell you a year later, we are so amazed by God's provision for our lives. He had such purpose in that trial. It brought us to where we are now; our marriage is richer and deeper because of it, and we know Him more completely. We would do it again in a heartbeat. We have gotten some vindication. Many have since called and asked forgiveness and justified our position. The interesting thing is, we don't need it. It doesn't matter anymore. God is God. Whether people see that we were right or wrong doesn't change who God is, and how faithful He has been to us. So I leave you with this thought: Maybe God isn't as concern about people knowing you are "right", as He about people knowing who you serve.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's in the valleys that we grow. Amen! I have been in situations where all I could do was lean on God and how thankful for the lessons learned in those seasons.

I find most that He's building our character then. And right on point about not being “right” as the sole purpose, but more so to share who we serve.

Thanks for sharing the journey. I pray others will be encouraged.

Allie Z said...

I love, love, love this post! I'm curious what the situation was, although it's obviously private. I recently posted about discipline in my marriage. What a focus it has been. God is truly amazing, providing what we need when we need it.

~Allie

Jeanetta said...

Thank you for sharing this! This is my first time to your site and I LOVE it. I hope others will be encouraged by your sharing as I was!