I want to go over three main points that Lysa made on Sunday when sharing her story. Amidst all of the chaos, confusion, and discontentment, she learned how God works. Firstly, “God does His best work in the unseen.” When she looked at where Art was as a result of his unfaithfulness, she had a hard time seeing that God was working on him. It didn’t appear that anything good was happening, and she was losing hope. She said, “Sometimes we MISS the answers to our prayers because they look different than we expect.” She gave the perfect example. In the Bible, the Israelites didn’t recognize manna for what it was. They walked around looking for bread and asking where the bread was. If only they would have realized right away that manna was all they needed! When you acknowledge that God does His best work in the unseen (behind the scenes), it’ll help you find peace and wait patiently for answers.
“I discovered it was important to not personalize everything Art said and did.” Lysa had to come to the realization that, while her heart was breaking, it wasn’t about her but about the changes Art needed to make—changes that he did eventually make. It can be difficult to take a step back and not personalize what other people do. Other people’s actions affect (and often hurt) you. Once she learned not to personalize all of Art’s words and actions, she learned on a new level how to let God be in charge.
Lysa was told, “Whatever you speak to Art, that’s what you’ll do life with.” She knew she could speak truth over Art—speak potential into him. Punk or prince? You get to live with who you chose to speak to. While Art wasn’t acting Christ-like, she knew there was a prince inside of him. If you’re going through a difficult season of life, be encouraged by Art and Lysa’s story. While it’s not easy, especially when one spouse has turned from God, there is hope. God works in ways you can’t understand, and keeping a strong relationship with Him is one of the best things you can do for your marriage.