The Case of the Hopeless Husband
Jun 15
Posted: under Faith.
Tags: conversion, prayer
I was talking with a lady after church who started off by asking me what I would call someone who refuses to have anything to do with church because of all the hypocrites, to which I replied, “Deceived.” There are hypocrites in the bars, at sporting events, and in the stores. Does such a person stop going to these places? Probably not. She went on to explain that her reference was to her husband. He hates the church and religion in general; he derides her for desiring to attend services; he doesn’t want her around any more.
I told her we need to pray for him. She said, “It won’t do any good.” That’s where she like so many of us failed. She had basically determined that her husband is beyond God’s ability to reach, that he is not worth her effort, that he is hopeless. Too often we make judgments on people that it wouldn’t do any good to witness to this person or that one because he or she engages in a certain sin, or espouses another religious belief, or even that they are having too much fun to trade it in for salvation (isn’t that a pathetic view of what God offers us?).
I don’t know the man, and I may never get the chance to meet him, but I promised this woman that I would pray for her husband, and told her that it is important that she pray for him, too. She didn’t seem too thrilled with the idea, but she reluctantly agreed.
I’m not sure what her motivation was that she even brought up this issue to me. I don’t get the sense that I told her what she wanted to hear. Maybe she was hoping I’d tell her it would be okay for her to leave her husband, but I couldn’t do that. She needs to know that God is big enough to change someone from the inside out. God can get someone to say just the right thing to make him stop and think about his own hypocrisy, his need for a savior, his need to know and experience God. She needs to hear true stories from wives who’ve had to pray for years for their husbands and finally saw their conversion. She needs to hear from husbands whose lives were changed because of their wives’ persistent prayer and gentle urging. And she needs people committed to praying that she will renew her love for him and her faith that God is able to do what she now thinks is impossible.
Tracy Henness
