3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. – 2 Cor 10:3-5
One morning as I was getting ready for work, I got a text message notification from my husband. ba-ding! I looked down fully expecting it to be a note telling me to make sure the coffee maker is unplugged. He sends the same text every day.
But that morning, his message made my stomach do flips – “The gift looks good on you.”
I was confused at first. Gift? He didn’t give me any gift. What was he talking about??? Then I stopped and stared at my horrified reflection in the mirror.
In my family multiple divorces and extended singlehood among the women were common. I myself struggled with unwanted singlehood until my late 30’s. I thought a generational curse of marital dysfunction and infidelity had followed me into my marriage. I wondered if I had heard God wrong about marrying this man (we were only two years into our marriage at that point). I wondered if my lack of experience and family history had caused me to fail as a wife. Mocking voices began telling me that there are no good men out there, and that my marriage was at risk. So in the stillness of the morning as I stared horrified in the mirror, anger, hurt rage, and betrayal began to bubble up into a hot knot in my throat.
But praise God for the gift of the Holy Spirit who reminds us of scripture. “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end” – Proverbs 29:11
God reminded me of that 2nd Corinthians passage above to take every thought captive. Every thought. Thoughts of inadequacy. Thoughts of hurt. Thoughts of anger. Everything. Then, we are to demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Knowledge that He is good, and that He has a hope and a future for us.
In the passage, Paul was talking about people that were stirring up dissension in the church. In my bathroom that morning, the enemy was trying to stir up dissension in my mind, making me want to doubt God’s blessing on my marriage and in my life. I had to remind myself that I have chosen to break generational curses, and any power they might have over me. I have chosen to join myself to this man. And, most importantly, I have chosen to trust God with my marriage.
So, trusting the Holy Spirit to soothe my soul and keep me sane no matter the outcome. I picked up my phone and texted him back – “Huh?” It was all I could muster.
The minute and a half I waited for his response seemed like an eternity.
His response: “It’s a song, never mind.”
I nearly shouted LIAR!!!!!!!! There is no song like that. I immediately Googled “the gift looks good on you song lyrics.”
You know what I found? A YouTube clip of a cute, upbeat song…
Hallelujah!!!!!!!! My husband wasn’t a philandering, no good piece of dirt. He was a wonderful godly man choosing to edify his wife! Relief poured out of my eyes in big fat tears and I praised God. I praised Him for the Holy Spirit that reminded me to put a check on my feelings and on my tongue.
What if I had flown into a rage and said all kinds of accusatory and hurtful things to him. What if by doing that I actually planted seeds of infidelity in his mind? By taking my thoughts captive, it didn’t mean I ignored my hurt and confusion. I submitted those thoughts to Christ so I could function. Letting Him bear that burden so I could hear Him in the midst of my emotions.