Ministers' Wives, Satan Is Trying to Take You Out
You may say "Brother Nolan, you are being a bit extreme in your title." I assure you I am not. My first encounter with Satan destroying a minister's marriage was over thirty years ago. The minister was my pastor and I will leave both his name and the city where it happened nameless. To this day I honor him as being one of the most precious men of God I know. He had grown up in a minister's home and his father was considered very fruitful and was nationally known within his denomination. The heart of a true pastor was and is in him and when I knew him he was also the presbyter over multiple churches in his area. People looked to him and did receive from him much wisdom. At the height of his success his wife expressed her desire to start looking for a job outside the home. She had stayed at home while the children were young, and as they were off to school every day, she now felt she could help out with daytime employment.
Within a few months this pastor's wife, a very attractive woman, started receiving attention at work from men. The specifics are not important, but eventually she got involved with one of them. Sadly, as this developed over time, the Pastor was made aware of it and stepped down from his position as presbyter. He modified his pastorate with the help of his staff, and his church of approximately five hundred people. A divorce ended the marriage, and my pastor friend's ministry was affected forever.
Brothers and sisters, Satan knows if he can destroy a marriage he can greatly affect the ministry it touches. Sometimes a pastor has to leave the ministry all together. The vicious rumor mill and the "he said" "she said" gossip flies around leaving people confused on what to believe. That pastor to this day, I consider a friend, and we talk from time to time. He has faithfully humbled himself as a servant, and ministers faithfully wherever he is called. However, in my opinion his ministry never returned to what is was, and certainly is not what it could have been if this tragic attack on his marriage could have been prevented.
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Ladies, if your husband is called to a ministry then you have one of the enemy's targets on your back. Satan knows if he can take you out he can damage or stop the effectiveness of your husband's fruitfulness. He understands that it has the "biggest bang for the buck" so to speak, of where he puts his energies and efforts. For you praying is not an option. Seeking God diligently as a minister's wife, is just as important as your husband seeking God for his sermons and ministry guidance. When he called your husband he called you, and let's face it-whether you like it or not. Now I admit you have a relationship with God as well, and you might need to have a "one on one" with your Heavenly Father until you can come into peace with your calling. A couple who shares a joint calling, fully accepting that it has been given to both of them from God, can have a fantastic marriage, leading to a very full, and eternally fruitful life, reaping rewards that will last forever!
I also personally know of another marriage where the minister's wife had a very lukewarm spiritual life. Try as he did to encourage his wife to rededicate her life to the Lord and get a fresh infilling from the Lord, she refused. Day after day he would come home to various problems. It seemed as if Satan was having a field day with their children, their finances, and the overall peace and love in their marriage. He would ask her, "Honey, did you spend any time in prayer today, have you been seeking the Lord for wisdom and direction as I have been asking you to?" Over and over again her response would be, "Not like I should"! Eventually God woke this minister up in the middle of the night and spoke to his heart, "Your wife has a lesbian spirit". When he woke her to tell her what the Lord said to him, she cried and cried confessing. In spite of a few years of counseling, the problem eventually destroyed the marriage. During the divorce proceedings the wife confessed to the judge that she was a bisexual. That man's ministry had to be put on hold for several years and countless people were affected by it. Today he rebuilds his ministry after years of having to sit on the bench.
You see ladies, when you aren't praying like you should, like Eve in the garden, Satan can come like a beautiful serpent, and start whispering temptations to your heart. His efforts toward you are greatly accelerated as he is really trying to stop or greatly hinder your husband by breaking his heart and destroying his reputation. You might say "Brother Nolan, that isn't fair, and besides God is God, and I will just pray for my marriage and family to be protected, and everything will be fine. Not according to Peter. In his epistle, He says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (Verse nine tells us what will happen if we aren't serious in this fight!) "Whom resist steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." 1st Peter 5:8,9 (KJV).
Wives of ministers whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers, I challenge you to become "warrior women of God"! Take up the cross of your joint calling. Regularly fast and pray through until the glory falls. Share your husband's burdens. Rise up full of God and fight the good fight of faith together with him and a beautiful fruitful marriage and ministry will grow out of it!
