Trusting the Lord to Keep His Children in His Truth – by Ida Mae
[March 8, 2023: There have been some changes made to this post. For more information, read the Editors’ notes at the bottom of the post. Editors.]
The following was written by Ida Mae as a comment on our post on the No-Divorce-For-Abuse Positions are Self-Destructive. Her comments deserve a more visible post, so here it is:
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(Matthew 22:23-29 ESV) (23) The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, (24) saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ (25) Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. (26) So too the second and third, down to the seventh. (27) After them all, the woman died. (28) In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” (29) But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
I’ve always believed our reason for living is not to win some debate or prove others wrong, but to live the truth. When we live in truth, we open a door to the captives.
It takes courage to speak the truth, knowing it goes against the established dogma of those we once respected, and knowing full well we once clung to those same falsehoods. But if we know, we’ve been enlightened by the Holy Spirit and if we refuse to stand and speak due to cowardice, then woe unto us!
Those who must always be right, who always try to engage the dissenters in some great debate and prove others wrong, are wrong before they start even when they may be technically correct. We are to walk together in a spirit of humility, no matter what our learning or position and realize we will never come to a perfect understanding until we see Him face-to-face and we don’t have that “through a glass darkly problem” any longer. 🙂
Let’s not forget, just like those Pharisees asking about who marries who in the resurrection (and had ulterior motives for doing so), we aren’t talking about abolishing the institution of marriage. We’re actually talking about strengthening it — by holding Christian husbands and wives to a higher standard. The law of love in Christ Jesus. We are not seeking to destroy anyone or anything — only to hold a door open that never should have been closed in the first place and acknowledge that, due to sin, marriages do fail. And when they do, there is remedy and freedom for those trapped with their tormenter.
Perhaps those that try to pick this apart also have ulterior motives? I’ve known some fine men who were genuinely afraid to allow the rabble of common men and women to live in freedom for “no telling what they might do!” They sincerely love the Lord, yet believe so little in the redemptive power of the cross to keep God’s own children. (May I say that if they are not kept, if they fall into gross immorality and leave the church, perhaps they weren’t one of us to begin with?) They do not believe that believers can handle freedom, so they keep men and women in bondage through fear. Well for goodness sake! The Lord is well able to keep His own.
Others seek control and that is a dangerous thing — over their own wives and children, their own brothers and sisters in Christ. These are the wolves in sheep’s clothing, twisting truth to fit their own purposes and teaching others to do the same. I sincerely believe this is the root of the “no divorce no matter what” doctrine.
And still others are passive, wanting approval from authority and do not want to be bothered by searching out the Scriptures and seeking God’s face on the subject. They have better things to do. These follow man, not God whether they realize it or not.
Christians are known by their love, not their great debate skills.
[March 8, 2023: Editors’ notes:
—For some comments made prior to March 8, 2023 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be an exact match.
—For some comments made prior to March 8, 2023 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be found in the post.
If you would like to compare the text in the comments made prior to March 8, 2023 that quoted from the post to the post as it is now (March 8, 2023), click here [Internet Archive link] for the most recent Internet Archive copy of the post.]
A Cry For Justice 
Ida Mae, this is beautifully done. We do need to be careful of being drawn into foolish arguments. Some of us (me) may, considering the circumstances, the wearing down, may be more prone to being drawn in. Thanks.
Beautifully written, Ida Mae!
We must trust God’s grace toward each of us, not only to redeem us from sin, but also to deliver us.
I am not a weeper, in fact it takes a lot to make me cry, but this quote early this morning, made me sob. I’ve attended two wonderful workshops this week, tragic content but terrific learning opportunities, the first on human trafficking and the second on how sexual abuse survivors are re-traumatized in in-patient facilities. And then I gave one yesterday on the correlation of sexual abuse as children and being in relationship with domestic abuse offenders as adults.
All of this to say is that there is SO MUCH PAIN out there, and if the ones who are arguing that their “truth” is the only way to believe could just take HALF of that time and turn around and see what GOOD could be done by reaching out and being the hands and feet of Jesus, I believe we would see miracles happen.
Love you, Ida Mae. You are a gem. xo
Ida Mae, thank you for your wonderfully written post. I don’t think anyone on this earth can “always” be right, and we really do need to be humble in order to fully know God’s truths.