THE HOLY SPIRIT- YOUR PARTNER IN BUILDING A GREAT MARRIAGE (6)
We were seated beside each other in a meeting when I picked the prompt to give our car away as a seed. There are things you hear but you are never sure of how to raise it. We prayed and trusted God for this one. I codenamed it “Isaac”. While I was deliberating on how to do it, I picked up my phone and sent her a message, “Dear, I sense our car is going as a seed”. Then I signalled her to check her WhatsApp. Her response was, “God was just talking to me about it also”. Those are priceless couple moments.
It was not the first time. The same happened with our savings as we prepared for our wedding. She responded with, “If we can give God our lives, why can’t He have our money?” The same happened with our first car as a family and many others in between. Well! If Irewamiri could obey the Lord to let go of city opportunities to marry a pastor in a small town, then she had to be sure that it must be God all the way. I had only the calling and my conviction. God honours faith because faith honours God.
Beloved, stewardship is easier when you have a spouse who is submitted to the leading of the Lord. You will both be in a hurry to obey the Lord. The Holy Spirit makes agreement in unusual times very easy.
My grandfather in the faith shared about how he told his wife that he sensed they were to give a piece of choice land as a seed for missions. His wife responded that she also sensed they should give their Mercedes Benz car. He responded by saying, “Mummy, we will talk about it”. Later that evening, on his way home, the Lord told him, “My daughter laid something on the altar, do you want to pick it up?” He froze and told the Lord, “I can never do that”. That is the beauty of both parties hearing the Lord.
If both parties are led by the flesh, it will open the door for the enemy to fill your hearts with selfish thoughts. Desires will be there but the devil will stain it with strange dimensions like he did with Ananias and Sapphira.
They had a desire which was beautiful, but somwhere along the way, something happened. The thought began with the man, and the woman consented. The challenge was not the fact that he brought part. God would have taken it as what they could and decided to give, but when they both started claiming it was the full amount, the devil took over fully.
“He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.”
Acts of the Apostles 5:2 NLT
Apostle Peter explained it to them:
“Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!””
Acts of the Apostles 5:3-4 NLT
Beloved, there is nothing as beautiful as a couple in agreement when it comes to stewardship. Have you become a hindrance in the desire of your spouse to obey the Lord? Do not do it! Follow the Lord faithfully as a family.
© temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa