Being With God Together: Plan for Married CouplesSample

Don’t Dismiss When Your Spouse Hears From The Lord

Have you ever been surprised when something happened even when you were forewarned it would happen? When my son was just a toddler he would push away from me in the pool. He wanted to be free to explore the pool without my embrace. I told him countless times, “You can’t push away from me, you can’t swim. You will sink without me holding you. You won’t like it if I let go.” No matter how many times I told him, he tried to squirm away from me. If you’re a parent, you likely know where this is going.

Finally, I let him go for just a moment. I let his head fall under water for just a second and then scooped him up. As I scooped him up he grabbed a hold of me tightly. He was shocked. The look on his face was pure bewilderment. Even though I told him he wouldn’t like it if I let him go, even though I told him he would sink, he was surprised when it happened.

God tells us He will speak to us, yet too often we don’t believe He will. God speaks to us in many ways. In Luke 12:12 Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will teach us in our daily moments what we ought to say.

If God tells us that He will lead us, then why are we surprised when He does it? When God impresses something on our hearts as we pray, why do we discount it as our mind wandering? When we hear or read something and it resonates with us, why do we assume it’s just our brain making connections instead of assuming God makes connections all throughout our days? When we get an idea, why do we assume it could only be from us and that it’s probably not any good anyway instead of acknowledging that God gives us ideas and assignments?

God is not silent. The Holy Spirit still speaks to us. If your spouse is a believer, the Holy Spirit can and will speak to them.

Brothers and sisters, let’s be careful not to discount or diminish our spouse when they feel like the Lord is speaking to them. If we are insecure and feel like God doesn’t speak to us or that we don’t know how to hear Him, then let’s not project that on our spouse and assume God doesn’t speak to them, or that they don’t know how to hear him.

When your spouse comes to you with a word from the Lord, acknowledge it and pray about it. Expect God to speak to you both. Commune together as God speaks to you in the big and the mundane moments of your life.

Too often I see spouses diminish when their spouse hears from the Lord. If you diminish or instantly doubt what your spouse has to say about what they feel the Lord telling them, it disconnects the two of you. It also discourages them from trying to hear from God and from sharing with you again.

If you do feel doubtful about what they said, instead of instantly discounting it say something like, “Okay, let’s pray about that together and see where God leads us.” It is possible to doubt or seek more clarity without diminishing them.

In your marriage expect God to speak to you both and be careful not to diminish when God is speaking to your spouse. The next time God speaks to your spouse or to you: don’t be surprised. He told you He would speak to you.