AN ANGEL IN THE NIGHT

What did my daughter do when her husband told her he would divorce her if she ever went back to church (after going one time in eight years of marriage)?

"I felt so alone," she said. "I wondered, 'What's going to happen? What is my future?'"

She felt the Lord telling her, "Just love him, honor him, respect him."

And so she did those things--things she's always done. In fact, she treats him like a king all the time.

She and her husband finally worked out a compromise--she was "allowed" to go to church (a one-hour service) once a month.

When she told us this over the phone, we were shocked. Our family has nearly 30 ministers and wives, and this was like a kick in the gut. But we wisely kept praying.

After her baby was born, she came to a point where she said, "I choose You, Lord. I will serve You, no matter what Javier chooses to do. Please help me do this."

She decided she had to go meet with the Lord at church, so she began going every Sunday (still, mind you, one hour) instead of one Sunday per month.

"Each Sunday, God would tell me what to do through the pastor. It was like he knew exactly what I was going through, yet he knew nothing about my home life."

(That's the inspiration of the Holy Spirit upon the pastor.)

One afternoon, with both the toddler and the baby down for a nap, she was sitting on her sofa thinking about how she wanted to draw closer to God. "I need to give up everything about me and give it to You, Lord," she prayed. Suddenly, she felt bereft because she realized she could never be good enough or do enough to see this accomplished.

"A light came on for me," she says. "Christ did it!"

"There's nothing for me to do!"

"He did it all."

"It's all about Him!"

"It became clear that it's all about Him!," she says. "That's why we're here!"

"I've found my purpose!"

"I've found my true love!"

"I've found love in Christ!"

"Being away from the truth and experiencing the things of the world, there's just nothing that fills me and gives me such joy and peace as Jesus!"

"It feels so unbelievably wonderful to know what my purpose is and to worship Him and bring glory to Him!"

"Joy and praise comes over my body in waves!"

We emailed our family and extended family about her wonderful experience, and they began sharing it in their churches and soon she started getting emails about it, so she created a blog to chronicle her journey of faith--married to an atheist. She shares what happened to her on her blog, a unique spiritual transformation.

God kept telling her to love and honor and respect her husband, and she did that.

Two more times, he told her he would divorce her if she ever went to church again. Both times, she fell on her knees in front of him and begged him not to divorce her, that she loved him, that he was the father of her children and she wanted them to grow up with them together as a family.

We began to pray that God would make his heart tender.

Milton specifically prayed that God would send an angel in the night to tell him about the Lord.

God has answered both of those prayers!

Jennifer has had several opportunities to share about God and the Bible with him. Once, she was reading/studying about the six woes in Isaiah, such as selfish greed, drunkenness, etc. She and her husband were in the car one day, and she told him about these things, and she said, "You know, Javier, you don't believe in these things either. These things are in the Bible, and you're already living by them."

When she told me about their conversation, I said, "Jennifer, you preached him a sermon, and he didn't even know it!"

Her husband's heart has grown more tender and soft concerning her church attendance. Before, he wouldn't even allow her to mention the name God in his presence. He went from that to listening to her discuss the Bible! That is a miracle! She called the other day and said, "Well, we've got to change our prayer. God has made his heart tender. Now, let's go to the next step."

The angel in the night happened last week. They were watching TV one night, and happened upon an interview with Stephen Baldwin, brother of movie star Alec Baldwin. Stephen Baldwin has come to know Christ! He's now written a book about his experience.

Javier listened to the entire interview.

Jennifer called the next day, joyful. "Here was a man who was 'in the world' like Javier, yet he came to Christ! This was someone Javier could relate to!"

I ordered the book for her, and it will arrive in a few days.

We're hoping Javier will read it. Or at least look at it.

God is good!

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