WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.040 Welcome back to Pomoja Podcast, a ministry of 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:07.580 Life of Christ International Ministries. Pomoja 00:00:07.580 --> 00:00:10.699 means together, and that's exactly what this 00:00:10.699 --> 00:00:13.679 space is about. The place where stronger lives 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:17.019 are built, faith is strengthened, hearts are 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:20.260 encouraged, and Christ -centered homes are shaped 00:00:20.260 --> 00:00:24.179 through ordinary conversations that become extraordinary 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:27.920 encounters with God's truth. One conversation, 00:00:28.699 --> 00:00:34.109 one story. one revelation at a time. Thank you 00:00:34.109 --> 00:00:37.829 for joining me for another powerful conversation. 00:00:39.570 --> 00:00:43.090 In our last conversation, we discovered something 00:00:43.090 --> 00:00:46.469 that many couples spend years trying to understand. 00:00:46.890 --> 00:00:50.289 Every marriage will eventually feel the heat. 00:00:50.729 --> 00:00:54.229 Not because the marriage is failing, but because 00:00:54.229 --> 00:00:58.210 two imperfect people are learning to become one. 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:02.820 I shared with you one of the most painful moments 00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:06.500 of my own marriage. The day I threw my wedding 00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:10.920 ring across the room, the day I believed everything 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:15.620 was falling apart. But looking back, I discovered 00:01:15.620 --> 00:01:18.680 something beautiful. The fire had never been 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:23.219 trying to destroy us. God was using it to transform 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:27.180 us. That raises an important question. If God 00:01:27.180 --> 00:01:32.079 allows the fire Why? Why doesn't he simply remove 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:35.379 every misunderstanding? Why doesn't he prevent 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:38.799 every disappointment? Why doesn't he eliminate 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:41.819 every conflict from every Christian marriage? 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:46.280 Because if marriage is his idea, why allow the 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:50.500 heat? The answer is found throughout the entire 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:53.359 Bible. When I began reading scripture through 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:56.459 the eyes of my father's parable, I noticed something 00:01:56.459 --> 00:02:01.739 remarkable. Every marriage, God ever used, became 00:02:01.739 --> 00:02:05.879 warm. Not one escaped the fire. Not Adam and 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:09.340 Eve, not Abraham and Sarah, not Isaac and Rebecca, 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.800 not Jacob and Rachel, not Elkanah and Hannah, 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:17.319 not Hosea and Gomer, not Joseph and Mary. Different 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:20.599 fires, different seasons, different stories, 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:26.319 but the same faithful God. Today, I want us to 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.000 walk through those homes together, because every 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.400 one of them has something to teach us. Not about 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:35.719 avoiding the fire, but about what God produces 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:41.379 through it. Before we continue, I want you to 00:02:41.379 --> 00:02:44.759 notice something remarkable. From Genesis to 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.860 the Gospels, God never hides the struggles of 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:51.000 marriage. He could have. He could have only shown 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:56.189 us the beautiful moments, the weddings. the celebrations, 00:02:57.189 --> 00:03:02.030 the victories, but he didn't. Instead, he allowed 00:03:02.030 --> 00:03:06.349 us to see the fire. Why? Because God wanted every 00:03:06.349 --> 00:03:09.530 generation to understand that the presence of 00:03:09.530 --> 00:03:13.590 fire is not the absence of his blessing. In fact, 00:03:14.169 --> 00:03:18.349 many times the fire becomes the evidence that 00:03:18.349 --> 00:03:21.750 God is shaping something eternal. Let's walk 00:03:21.750 --> 00:03:24.650 together through some of the greatest marriages 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:28.860 in the Bible. You'll discover something surprising. 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:35.520 Every one of them became warm. Let's talk about 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:38.460 the fire of failure of Adam and Eve. The very 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:41.620 first marriage didn't begin with conflict. It 00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:45.319 began with perfection. No arguments. No misunderstandings. 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:49.479 No shame. No fear. No death. No tears. Only God. 00:03:49.900 --> 00:03:56.430 Only love. The serpent entered the garden. Temptation 00:03:56.430 --> 00:03:59.949 entered the heart. Sin entered the home. For 00:03:59.949 --> 00:04:03.550 the very first time, Adam and Eve hid from God. 00:04:04.069 --> 00:04:07.629 For the very first time, they hid from one another. 00:04:08.189 --> 00:04:12.009 For the very first time, blame entered a marriage. 00:04:12.689 --> 00:04:16.529 Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. The 00:04:16.529 --> 00:04:20.269 harmony of Eden was shattered. If anyone had 00:04:20.269 --> 00:04:23.089 a reason to believe their marriage was over, 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:26.829 It was them. But notice something beautiful. 00:04:27.629 --> 00:04:31.209 God never separated them. He clothed them. Together. 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:35.529 He sent them out of the garden. Together. The 00:04:35.529 --> 00:04:38.850 first journey into a broken world. They walked 00:04:38.850 --> 00:04:42.769 side by side. Then came another fire. Their son 00:04:42.769 --> 00:04:47.149 Abel was murdered. Not by a stranger, by his 00:04:47.149 --> 00:04:50.509 own brother. Can you imagine? The silence in 00:04:50.509 --> 00:04:54.620 that home. Can you imagine? The grief. The questions. 00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:59.620 The tears. Death entered. The first family. Yet 00:04:59.620 --> 00:05:03.079 Adam and Eve remained together. The fire entered 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:06.980 the house. Failure entered the house. Grief entered 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:10.779 the house. But the covenant remained. The first 00:05:10.779 --> 00:05:14.800 marriage teaches us that even after humanity's 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:19.220 greatest failure, God's answer was not to destroy 00:05:19.220 --> 00:05:23.860 the family. It was to redeem it. The fire did 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:28.980 not have the final word, God did. Let's explore 00:05:28.980 --> 00:05:31.639 now the fire of waiting of Abraham and Sarah. 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:35.220 Some marriages don't burn because of conflict, 00:05:35.540 --> 00:05:38.879 they burn because of waiting. Imagine receiving 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:42.639 a promise directly from God. You will become 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:47.800 the father of many nations, then nothing. One 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:52.060 year passes, five years, 10 years. 20 years, 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:55.980 every birthday, another reminder, every passing 00:05:55.980 --> 00:05:59.959 season, another disappointment, every empty cradle, 00:06:00.459 --> 00:06:04.439 another silent prayer. Waiting has a way of testing 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:08.160 a marriage. Not because love disappears, but 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:12.199 because hope grows tired. Abraham and Sarah made 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:16.060 mistakes. They tried to help God. Hagar entered 00:06:16.060 --> 00:06:20.040 their story. Ishmael was born. Pain followed. 00:06:20.329 --> 00:06:23.790 Consequences followed. Yet through every mistake, 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:27.430 they continued walking together, building altars 00:06:27.430 --> 00:06:30.970 together, following God's voice together, waiting 00:06:30.970 --> 00:06:35.730 together. Then one day, the impossible happened. 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:39.870 The laughter returned. Not the laughter of doubt, 00:06:40.230 --> 00:06:43.689 but the laughter of fulfillment. Isaac was born. 00:06:44.149 --> 00:06:48.069 Their marriage reminds us that God's delays are 00:06:48.069 --> 00:06:52.310 not God's denials. Sometimes, the fire of waiting 00:06:52.310 --> 00:06:56.069 is preparing both husband and wife to receive 00:06:56.069 --> 00:06:59.629 the promise together. Let's talk about the fire 00:06:59.629 --> 00:07:03.269 of division of Isaac and Rebecca. Isaac loved 00:07:03.269 --> 00:07:07.410 Esau. Rebecca loved Jacob. One family, two favorites. 00:07:07.629 --> 00:07:10.670 The home slowly divided. The enemy understands 00:07:10.670 --> 00:07:14.230 something. If he can divide the vision of a father 00:07:14.230 --> 00:07:18.149 and mother, he begins weakening the family. Different 00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:21.970 loyalties, different plans, different expectations. 00:07:22.410 --> 00:07:26.250 Their home became complicated, yet God continued 00:07:26.250 --> 00:07:29.889 writing His story. His covenant did not fail. 00:07:30.149 --> 00:07:34.269 His promises did not disappear. Isaac and Rebekah 00:07:34.269 --> 00:07:37.910 remind us that even when husbands and wives make 00:07:37.910 --> 00:07:42.110 painful mistakes, God is still able to accomplish 00:07:42.110 --> 00:07:47.050 His purposes. His grace is greater than our failures. 00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:51.759 Let's explore the fire of disappointment of Jacob 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:55.740 and Rachel. Jacob believed he was marrying Rachel. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.439 Instead, he woke up beside Leah. One night changed 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:04.800 everything. Seven more years of waiting. Then 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:08.019 another fire. Rachel couldn't have children. 00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:12.980 Leah could. Comparison entered the home. Competition 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:15.779 entered the family. Heartbreak filled the house. 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:20.180 Nothing unfolded. The way Jacob imagined, yet 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:24.060 through that complicated family, God built the 00:08:24.060 --> 00:08:28.160 12 tribes of Israel. Sometimes, God's greatest 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:32.279 work happens inside the life we never planned, 00:08:33.019 --> 00:08:36.240 because his purpose is often greater than our 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.539 expectations. As we continue through scripture, 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:43.759 the pattern becomes even clearer. The fire changes, 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:47.690 the circumstances change. The seasons change, 00:08:47.850 --> 00:08:51.250 but one thing never changes. God continues to 00:08:51.250 --> 00:08:54.970 trust his greatest purposes to marriages, not 00:08:54.970 --> 00:09:00.210 perfect marriages, faithful marriages. Let's 00:09:00.210 --> 00:09:02.850 explore the fire of silent pain of El Khanna 00:09:02.850 --> 00:09:08.029 and Hannah. Some fires make a lot of noise. Others 00:09:08.029 --> 00:09:12.509 are completely silent. Hannah's fire wasn't conflict. 00:09:13.029 --> 00:09:16.769 It wasn't betrayal. It wasn't division. It was 00:09:16.769 --> 00:09:21.049 an empty womb. Year after year, she watched others 00:09:21.049 --> 00:09:24.649 celebrate while carrying a sorrow few people 00:09:24.649 --> 00:09:29.850 could understand. She prayed, she wept, she waited. 00:09:30.830 --> 00:09:34.909 Even Panina used her pain to provoke her. Can 00:09:34.909 --> 00:09:38.649 you imagine what that did to a marriage? Yet 00:09:38.649 --> 00:09:41.450 El Khanna never abandoned Hannah. He couldn't 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:45.669 remove her pain, but he remained beside her sometimes. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.879 Love cannot fix the problem. Sometimes, love 00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:54.200 simply stays. Year after year, they carried the 00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:57.980 burden together. Then one day, God answered. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:02.559 Samuel was born, the very child who would become 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:06.179 one of Israel's greatest prophets. Imagine that. 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:10.500 The fire that almost broke Hannah's heart became 00:10:10.500 --> 00:10:15.740 the birthplace of a prophet. Sometimes. God is 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:18.899 preparing something greater than we can imagine 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:23.580 while we're asking him to remove the fire. Let's 00:10:23.580 --> 00:10:26.759 talk about the fire of redemption of Hosea and 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:31.080 Gomer. Perhaps no marriage experienced greater 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:36.460 heartbreak than Hosea and Gomer. God asked Hosea 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:40.620 to marry a woman who would repeatedly be unfaithful. 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:43.759 It sounds almost unbelievable. Why would God 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.220 ask such a thing? Because their marriage would 00:10:47.220 --> 00:10:50.860 become a living picture of his own covenant with 00:10:50.860 --> 00:10:55.779 his people again and again. Gomer walked away 00:10:55.779 --> 00:11:00.299 again and again. Hosea pursued her, not because 00:11:00.299 --> 00:11:03.419 betrayal is acceptable, but because redemption 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:07.799 is at the very heart of God. God wasn't celebrating 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:11.700 brokenness. He was revealing the relentless power. 00:11:11.870 --> 00:11:15.889 of covenant love. Their marriage reminds us that 00:11:15.889 --> 00:11:19.730 God's love always seeks restoration whenever 00:11:19.730 --> 00:11:24.029 repentance is genuine. His grace is greater than 00:11:24.029 --> 00:11:28.330 failure. Let's explore the fire of fire of trust 00:11:28.330 --> 00:11:32.389 of Joseph and Mary. Then we arrive at perhaps 00:11:32.389 --> 00:11:36.190 the most extraordinary marriage in all of scripture. 00:11:36.509 --> 00:11:40.440 Joseph and Mary, have you ever stopped? to ask 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:44.679 yourself a simple question. Why was God so intentional 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:48.200 about Jesus entering the world through a family? 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:52.240 He could have chosen any method. He could have 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:55.879 sent his son fully grown. He could have entrusted 00:11:55.879 --> 00:12:00.080 him to one parent. He could have rewritten history 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:04.679 in countless ways, but he didn't. God chose a 00:12:04.679 --> 00:12:08.980 husband and a wife, a father and a mother. Joseph 00:12:08.980 --> 00:12:13.080 was not. Jesus' biological father. But he became 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:16.360 his earthly father. The man who would protect 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:20.440 him, provide for him, teach him, raise him, walk 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:24.220 beside him. God wasn't improvising. He was teaching 00:12:24.220 --> 00:12:27.399 us. Before Jesus preached about the kingdom, 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:30.860 he grew up inside a family. Before he called 00:12:30.860 --> 00:12:34.440 disciples, he learned obedience inside a home. 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:38.450 Before he redeemed humanity, he lived. Under 00:12:38.450 --> 00:12:42.230 the care of a father and a mother, from the very 00:12:42.230 --> 00:12:45.950 beginning, God reaffirmed what he established 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:50.870 in Genesis. Marriage, family, the covenant between 00:12:50.870 --> 00:12:55.049 one man and one woman. Not because marriage saves 00:12:55.049 --> 00:12:58.950 us, Christ alone saves, but because marriage 00:12:58.950 --> 00:13:02.110 becomes one of God's greatest classrooms for 00:13:02.110 --> 00:13:07.129 love, faithfulness, sacrifice, service, and covenant. 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:11.379 Yet even this family entered the fire. Joseph 00:13:11.379 --> 00:13:14.820 discovered Mary was pregnant. No explanation, 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:19.059 no angel. At first, only heartbreak, confusion, 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:23.820 silence, questions. Imagine Mary trying to explain 00:13:23.820 --> 00:13:27.840 what no human mind could understand. I have never 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:32.179 known a man, yet I am carrying the Son of God. 00:13:32.899 --> 00:13:35.980 Who would believe her? Then after Jesus was born, 00:13:36.110 --> 00:13:40.649 Another fire leave everything flee to Egypt become 00:13:40.649 --> 00:13:44.649 refugees Protect the child the family chosen 00:13:44.649 --> 00:13:48.789 to raise the Messiah wasn't spared hardship Why 00:13:48.789 --> 00:13:52.129 because God never promised that holy families 00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:55.470 and would avoid the fire he promised to walk 00:13:55.470 --> 00:14:00.610 with them through it as I look back I Understand 00:14:00.610 --> 00:14:03.909 my father's story better than ever before he 00:14:03.909 --> 00:14:07.720 never described the furniture. He never described 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:11.980 the walls. He never described the decorations. 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:17.559 He simply said the house was warm because warmth 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:21.820 is not the absence of fire. Warmth is the testimony 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:26.200 of a fire that was surrendered to God. Every 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:30.240 marriage God has ever used became warm. Adam 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.559 and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:37.820 Jacob and Rachel. Elkanah and Hannah, Hosea and 00:14:37.820 --> 00:14:41.519 Gomer, Joseph and Mary. Different stories, different 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:45.399 seasons, different fires, but one faithful God. 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:50.039 Perhaps your house feels warm today. Perhaps 00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:53.860 you're walking through a season you never expected. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:57.899 Don't lose hope. You may be standing in the very 00:14:57.899 --> 00:15:02.200 place where God is preparing the greatest chapter 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:06.340 of your marriage. Because the fire does not always 00:15:06.340 --> 00:15:11.639 mean God is against you. Sometimes it means He 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:15.120 is working within you. Thank you for walking 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:19.399 with me today through another conversation inside 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:23.379 the house in the middle of the forest. May God 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:26.519 bless your home. May He strengthen your covenant. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:30.860 And may He remind you that even in the fire, 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:36.870 He never leaves the house. I'll see you in our 00:15:36.870 --> 00:15:38.009 next conversation.