My guest, Marriage Counselor Leslie Davis is one of the founders (her husband is the other) of Heart Call Ministries and it’s because of the way God has blessed their marriage that makes Leslie passionate about seeing marriages healthy, healed and strengthened through the truth of God’s Word. Their marriage is proof that you can have a solid, godly, blessed, rewarding marriage.
Leslie and I talked about how marriage is simply two broken people brining out the brokenness in each other but Leslie said something that I cannot ever remember considering it quite like she shared. Granted, I’ve been a widow now for a little over 5.5 years so maybe I’m just not remembering.
She said, “A lot of times God will use the marriage relationship to provide healing for those broken places.” I don’t recall considering conflict in my marriage, as an opportunity to heal. Although, in hindsight it was times of frustration and feeling at my wits end in my marriage that caused me to seek my own personal healing.
When I think about it, that’s so like God. He knows marriage is going to bring our brokenness to the surface. He knows we’re going to challenge each other and it’s going to trigger all the areas where we need healing and He’s fine with that. He’s fine with it because in the process He’s asking us to give that painful place, that brokenness to Him so He can heal it.
God’s heart is to heal us in the here and now. To build our trust, to show us His faithfulness to Shepherd us well.
A significant distinction that Leslie made is looking at the difference of what it means to have a strong identity based on who we are IN Christ AND who we are TO Christ. So good. I can’t wait for you to hear that part.
We took a look at abuse, submission, obedience and humbling but it’s not the typical conversation that you may be used to hearing from the pulpit. Leslie believes that submission preached without including the importance of biblical leadership is not viable. Additionally, Leslie points to varying levels of trust between spouses and the fact that when the marriage vows (that were spoken between you and your spouse in front of witnesses) are broken then there’s some work that needs to be done. I’ve (personally) often said, when it’s broke, it’s broke and acting like it isn’t only prolongs the pain, confusion, dysfunction.
Whether is was submission, obedience, humbleness, or abuse, no matter our topic, Leslie balances it with clarity, hope and God’s heart for us and for marriage.
I am confident that her message is going to encourage you to continue pursuing the heart of God and discovering His intention for marriage and the freedom He has for us.
We can’t forget, that if we’ve professed the Son of God as our Lord and Savior, then He’s made a vow to us. He’ll never leave us nor forsake us especially in the painful places of life.
I don’t want to delay any longer, let’s listen in so that we might get a glimpse of how to find God in our pain, specifically the broken places in marriage.
Live Loved and Thrive! @Alifeofthrive.com
Connect with Leslie:
Website: https://heartcallministries.org/
Counseling: https://heartcallcounseling.org/index.html
Podcast: https://heartcallministries.org/podcast-library/
Resources: https://heartcallministries.org/resources/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeartCallMinistries/
Instagram @TheVisionDrivenMarriage
Bio:
Leslie is the co-host with her husband, Doug, of The Vision-Driven Marriage podcast. They currently work with couples who are experiencing the overwhelm of the whirlwind of life. She earned a Master of Science degree in counseling from Illinois State University in 2008 and a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University in 1991. She has been trained as a certified Suicide Intervention Specialist and is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors.
Leslie has been married to Doug for 34 years. Together they have four beautiful daughters and three sons-in-law. Four sweet little granddaughters call her Nana. She likes to write, scrapbook, and has recently taken up watercolor painting.
Transcript: https://www.happyscribe.com/transcriptions/463bf4a1bbd74ee6b8e335669e679edb/view
