This week’s blog post, God Will Make a Way, is by my friend Sarah Geringer. You may remember her as one of my podcast guests on the topic of hope when in a difficult marriage (https://alifeofthrive.com/2021/04/28/sarah-geringer-hope-in-an-abusive-marriage/). She has a heart to encourage women who find themselves in more than a challenging marriage. She’s equipped to help the woman who is in a soul searching, heart breaking, difficult marriage. Her blog post today will not disappoint. May your heart be stirred with hope in the God who sees you, cares for you and is always working on your behalf.
God Will Make a Way
By Sarah Geringer
Guest post for Sherrie Pilkington
As I’m writing this post, I’m listening to Elevation Worship’s song, “Do It Again.” The chorus says that God will make a way where there is no way, and we can ask him to do this again and again.
When I look back over our difficult marriage, I see many times when God made a way when it seemed like there was no way forward. When I felt I was up against a brick wall of discouragement, anger, frustration or hurt. When it felt like I had done all I knew to change, but my husband was unwilling to budge.
Since I kept journals the whole time, I can look back and see those hard-won moments. Hundreds of them. I remember exactly how desperate and hopeless I felt in those times. But at the end of each journal entry, I reaffirmed my hope that God would show me a way. Because only he could make a way where there seemed to be no way.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, God made a way in me, not in my husband. He showed me a new area where I needed to grieve, release control and forgive. Through my daily Bible reading, a song on Christian radio or a sermon at church, God faithfully provided me new perspectives. Often, he sent me encouragement through a sister in Christ at just the right time. Sometimes, he corrected me and disciplined me as a loving father.
All of this was for my ultimate good. God often made a way to change something in me, rather than in my husband (even when I prayed my husband would change). God used the anvil of our marriage to make my faith and character much stronger than if I hadn’t faced the hardships within.
Just as God made a way through the Red Sea for the Israelites to walk through on dry ground, he will make a way for us through what seems impossible in our marriages. But we must be willing to step into that path, with the wall of waters pulsing on either side of us. We must cling to our faith as we risk stepping forward.
God will make a way in your marriage, friend. He will make a way where there seems to be no way forward. More likely than not, this way will start in you.
It will begin by you surrendering your contributions to the problems. It will most certainly include sacrifice, forgiveness, grief and God-empowered grace. The way God makes for you will greatly benefit from input via your pastor, a Christian counselor, a support group and/or a godly mentor. For changes to occur in your marriage, you must be willing to accept these assignments for your own good.
I pray that if you are struggling in your marriage, you will have new faith today that God will make a way for you. May you be willing to do the hard things on your end for better results in the long run. God is waiting for you to trust him as you walk on the path he’ll make for you – are you ready to take that first step?
Sarah Geringer is a speaker, podcaster, artist and author of Transforming Your Thought Life: Christian Meditation in Focus and three self-published books. A teen girl version of Transforming Your Thought Life will be published in fall 2021.
She is on the devotional writing teams for Proverbs 31 Ministries, A Wife Like Me, Devotable, Hope-Full Living, Kingdom Edge Magazine and Woman 2 Woman Ministries.
When she’s not reading over 100 books per year, Sarah enjoys painting, baking, gardening and playing the flute. Her daily must-haves are hot tea, dark chocolate, and fresh flowers. She lives in southeast Missouri with her husband and three children. Sarah writes and speaks about finding peace in God’s Word at sarahgeringer.com.
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