Karen and Joel were married for 11 years and had 2 children, Jared and Jana. Karen and Joel got divorced when their children were 8 and 6 years old. Because of the divorce, not only were the parents separated, but also their children. Jared lived with Joel and Jana lived with Karen two hours away. Six years later, God laid upon Karen’s heart the desire to get their family back together. Karen began praying about this off and on, but one day she became frustrated and decided to help God out a bit. She called up Joel and told him about her desire to get their family back together. He responded, “That will NEVER happen!”
Karen realized that getting their family back together was something only God could do, no matter how much she tried to speed up the process. So, one morning, she gave her situation completely over to the Lord. When she decided to fully surrender and let God handle it, she felt an unexpected peace and heard God saying to her, “I’ll take care of it.” The next day, Joel drove to Karen’s house and told her he heard a voice say to him, “Get your family back together and do it before you can change your mind!” When Karen heard Joel say this, she knew it was the voice of the Lord and that her prayers had been answered! She told Joel about her complete surrender the day before and that it was God’s voice speaking to him. Joel said, “Wow, you’re right. Well, will you marry me?”
Joel and Karen have now been married for 18 more years. Karen says, “Through this, I’ve learned to pray and leave things in God’s hands to get His will and His best. When I try to help Him out, I get my will and my best. I’d rather have His best any day! So I know how to pray—believing and leaving it up to God. Such peace and joy fills my heart now.”
