As some of you know I have been going through some very difficult marital problems. (For those that don't see PRAYER REQUEST FORUM FOR WW CHANGE OF HEART thread.)After 15 yrs of marriage my W went wayward. This trial has brought me closer to God and I thanks God for that because I do not know if I could have made it this far without him. I personally believe once married, always married because What God has joined together, let no man separate.

That brings me to my question. I was in a deep biblical conversation with a man who is divorced. His belief is that God didn't put his 1st marriage together. His thinking is that Satan joined them together and God had nothing to do with it. I stood my ground but have since wondered how many others beleive that.

God has already told me that he ordained my marriage and I will stand firm with God and my marriage. Any thoughts?

Well,

As for your friend. Was he a believer of whatever God he is referencing at the time he got married the first time? Did he vow to his God? If so, then he's just playing games, and we all know the truth.

God doesn't want you to get divorced. However, He does clearly state that you can do it under the situation of an affair in your marraige. And just because God ordained your marriage doesn't take away your wife's free will to sin and destroy it.

Although these questions are good questions, I would use care in how you explore them. It feels like you are trying to 'convince' yourself of something.

-hang in there

Hi ParanoidHB -

My personal opinion is that if you swore an oath before God, He has ordained the marriage. I can't give you a whole lot of scriptual backing on this, but my reasoning is this:

1. God knows what will happen in our lives.
2. God also grants us free will.
3. It may be that God is saying "Well, I think person A is a much better choice for you, but if you want person B, I will continue to bless you."

So no..I don't believe Satan has anything to do with who we marry.

We choose who we marry. Once we make that choice, and swear on oath before God, it is ordained by God. Malachi 2:15 (I think) - God hates divorce.

Saying Satan joined your friend and his ex-wife together is, IMO, simply a way for your friend to duck any responsibility he may have had for his marriage's failure.

I suggest you ask Mortarman or ForeverHers for their take on this. They are much more learned in scripture than I am.

I leave you with this:

Ephesians 6:13 (NIV) "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

That verse tells me that we are to wear the armor of God at all times, for evil will always seek to attack the believer. When it does, God's armor will enable you to stand your ground. When the battle is over, regardless of hte outcome in the world's eyes, you will still be standing tall and proud.

What excellent and well thought out responses. I have to agree with what everyone is saying. I have heard the argument by some that a first or second marriage was not blessed by God. Even so, and this is coming from a vow breaker, the bible clearly states that we are to pay our vows to God. If a vow in marriage is made to God, breaking it is, as we all know, a very serious offense. I agree that God hates divorce.

When my treachery first came to light, I went to church to pray. The bible reading for that day was:

1 Cor 7:27 Are you married? Do not seek a divorce.

I thought that was a pretty strong indication of what God wanted me and my wife to do. Ours is my wife's second marriage. She married a divorced man to begin with. The guy had several divorces under his belt. Then, she divorced him and rightfully so. The issue did come up in our decision to marry. I decided that since, under Jesus' teaching, she had committed adultery by marrying this guy, when she divorced him, she made herself right before God as the marriage/adultery issue goes. Therefore, when we married, there was no issue of adultery because of a divorce and remarriage.

Whether my reasoning was correct or not, the Lord can tell us when we see him. Regardless, I do think that the Lord meets us where we are and if we have divorced and committed adultery by remarriage, I think he forgives the sin if we confess to him we have sinned and the transgression is blotted out from that time. Then, we start afresh.

That's my opinion. It doesn't make divorce right, but it is forgivable. At least divorce is above board as opposed to the treachery/adultery we FWSs engaged in.

God bless.