God used that simple question to rock
us to our core. We had a question to
answer and a decision to make. Were
we going to look at our marriage and
declare what we were experiencing or
were we going to focus on the God of
the impossible? With a mustard seed
of faith, we both decided to gaze at the
God of the universe and declare hope
for our marriage!
“
We had a question
to answer and a dec-
ision to make. Were
we going to look at
our marriage and
declare what we were
experiencing or were
w e g o i n g to fo c u s
o n t h e G o d of t h e
impossible?”
It didn’t happen overnight but we both
began to make small positive changes
that impacted our marriage. It began
with our words. We stopped criticizing
and arguing with each other. We started
encouraging one another more. We
began covering each other in prayer
instead of condemning each other.
Instead of responding in a negative
or sarcastic way when we felt hurt,
we chose to respond in a loving way.
These were simple ways we began
declaring life over our marriage.
There were many times that the
Lord would remind us of his Word. It
reminded us how powerful words are
in our marriage. In Prov 18:21 NKJV,
“Death and life are in the the power of
the tongue, and those who love it will
eat its fruit.” It’s interesting that this
scripture described our early years and
now also our later years of marriage.
In the beginning, we were declaring
death over our relationship and we
grew accustomed to eating the rotten
fruit. When we changed and declared
life over each other and our marriage,
we started enjoying the sweet fruit
that came from it.
In the fall of 2014, we were asked to
help establish the Marriage & Parenting
ministr y at Lakewood Church in
Houston, Texas. It was such an honor
to be asked and we both knew it had
the potential to become some of our
greatest years of ministry together.
We had come so far from those early
destructive days of marriage and we
had such a desire to help other couples.
As we began to step out in this new
role, we prayed that God would lead us
and direct us in this new area. A few
weeks into this new position, we were
drawn to the book of Ezekiel during
a morning prayer time. Re-reading
the vision God gave Ezekiel about the
valley of dry bones reminded us of
so many marriages. It’s an accurate
description of what happens when you
aren’t declaring life over your marriage.
It’s also an incredible promise of what
can happen when you focus on the
God of the impossible.
“Can these bones live again?”God
Solutions • 17