There is nothing quite so helpful for humans as total desperation. As long as we have even a sliver of hope that our efforts might resolve our dilemmas, we are likely to keep floundering along. But when we come up against impossibility, then we can discover the Power.
It certainly was true for Moses. Imagine how he felt with the Red Sea in front of him, millions of clamoring children of Israel around him, and murderous Egyptian troops approaching them.
From our historical vantage point it seems obvious what Moses needed to do—especially if you have seen a Hollywood rendering of the parting of the Sea. Faith is so much easier in retrospect than prospect.
But when Moses came face to face with utter hopelessness, he did not have the benefit of the Bible in movie or print. He knew that he was hopelessly over his head. And, when mortals’ own efforts cannot possibly save them, that is when they are most likely to turn wholeheartedly to God. But only if they have faith.
When caught in the squeeze, Moses’ faithless people complained bitterly: “For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:12). Their complaining must have added immense tension to Moses’ dilemma.
Of course it is possible that Moses had been shown their path ahead of time. Was he spared soul-stretching pressure because of his foreknowledge?
I think that he, like all of us, was required to draw on faith in times of crisis. “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:13–14). What a powerful declaration of faith!
Based on four decades of wilderness tutoring Moses knew that God would deliver them, even though he may not have known how God would do it. Did he wonder if an earthquake would swallow Pharaoh’s army? Did he hope for lightning to frighten them? Or maybe a throng of heavenly chariots to fight their battle for them? Or did he already know that God would part the Red Sea?
It seems that only after Moses had exercised and announced his faith that the answer was revealed: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea” (Exodus 14:15–16).
Crises press us to stretch our faith and lift our sights.
Marital desperation
A woman sought my advice about her marriage. “After 25 years of disappointment and pain, I think there is a 90% chance that we should simply divorce. We have tried everything. I see no way to redeem our relationship.”
Ah, the blessing of desperation! Unfortunately, even when cornered, we humans would rather do almost anything but throw ourselves on the merits, mercy, and grace of him who is mighty to save. It is popular to blame others. “My husband is an insensitive lout who would rather fish than care for his family.” Other people have a strong bias toward blaming themselves: “This is exactly what I deserve: total misery and utter hopelessness.”
Yet God stands and waits, and waits, and waits for us to ask for His help. For each of us He is as the father of the prodigal who waited through many seasons for His presumptuous, squandering child to return to Him.
Despite the prodigal’s wastefulness, “when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). The son had not even repented; he merely got tired of being miserable. That was enough for God.
Even when we are far from God, after we get weary of our self-chosen misery and turn toward home, He runs to us and embraces us just as He did the prodigal. When we are ready to turn our lives to Him, He calls everyone together for a celebratory feast.
Marriage and growth
Marriage is an especially fruitful area for God’s growth-promoting purposes. Is there any relationship that we begin with such ridiculous hopes? Is there any relationship where we take so personally the simple humanness of another? Is there any situation where we are so regularly tempted to think we have made a mistake? Is there any place where annoyance is more likely?
While there may be hints of trouble early on—even before marriage—it takes most people some time to reach cosmic dismay. After two years it is obvious to the mildly alert person that the spouse has certain disagreeable behaviors that do not change easily and have become impossible to wave away with infatuation.
But there is a special kind of despair reserved for those who have been married for a couple of decades or more. After investing so much of ourselves, it seems absolutely intolerable that we should get so much less than we deserve. We amass the evidence of our abundant sacrifice. We itemize our partner’s offences. We calculate the deficit. The answer is clear: “I must get out of this marriage to save my soul. This person will destroy me.”
Latter-day idolatry
Desperation is just the place where God does His best work. He will work a miracle for us if we, like Moses, declare: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today: for the [spouses] whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again [in the same way] no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
When we have given a relationship the best we have and find that it is not enough, we may turn to God. The One who heals the lepers, blind, lame, and palsied also knows how to heal the disenchanted, bored, resentful, and alienated. But we, like Moses, must be willing to let God do His work. We must want Him to transform us with a mighty change of heart, renew a right spirit within us, and give us the mind of Christ. It will not work to develop a spousal improvement project.
Moses’ impossible situation was different from Alma’s whose enemy was his own hard-heartedness. When faced with his own desperate spiritual circumstances, Alma wisely called on Heaven: “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death” (Alma 36:18). We will all face internal enemies (judging, impatience, selfishness, etc.) like Alma and external enemies (lack of resources, distractions, partner’s imperfections, etc.) like Moses. In both cases, the solution is the same: drawing on the teachings, grace, and miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I wonder if the commonest form of latter-day idolatry is the worship of our own abilities. We do not turn to God because we assume that the solution is for us to fix ourselves or each other. We heap scorn on failures. We commit to fix things. Yet we fail to acknowledge that we are less than the dust of the earth. We are worthless and fallen. We are in desperate need of God’s help.
As long as we depend on our own arms of flesh, we are enemies to God. That is latter-day idolatry. Only He can change our hearts. Only He can grant the heavenly perspective.
Calling on God
When we stand at the edge of the marital Red Sea with a multitude of disappointments clamoring for something better, we can use Alma’s words: “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me” (Alma 36:18). If we give him place in our souls, he will fill our minds with compassionate understanding, our souls with earnest helpfulness, our mouths with charitable words, and our spirits with steady resolve. He is able to do His work.
The One who calmed the storm can quiet our squalls. The One who multiplied the loaves and fishes can magnify our charity. The One who cast out devils can remove resentments.
Satan must laugh as we discard covenants and relationships for the honorable-sounding cause of self-protection. While there are certainly those who must leave a relationship because their agency has been removed by a spouse, the majority of divorces could be prevented by drawing on heavenly resources rather than our puny, human ones. (For a guide on the divorce decision, see Hawkins and Fackrell: Should I Keep Trying to Work it Out?)
Even among family scholars there is a growing alarm that many of us are so filled with individualism that we trade our covenants for a mess of self-justification. Bill Doherty has observed that marriage can be like living in Minnesota. When the bitter winter comes, we are tempted to head south. Even friends and therapists warn of getting frostbite in flawed marriages. We should “trust our feelings of unhappiness.” Yet every relationship will have its winter. While we could leave our marriage with hopes of establishing a better one, that relationship will inevitably enter its winter too. If, in contrast, we stay together and warm each other, “the next springtime in Minnesota can be all the more glorious for the winter that we endured together” (2001, p.105).
Michele Weiner Davis suggests that our culture is biased against the sacrifices of marriage. Even in very troubled cases, divorce “doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. In fact, in most cases, divorce creates more problems than it solves” (p.12).
John Gottman has observed that most (he calculates 69%) of the things that irritate us about our partners are not going to change. As to the 31% that can change, he observes that “one of the great paradoxes in therapy is that people don’t change unless they feel accepted as they are” (1994, p.184). Gottman has provided solid, research-based recommendations for strengthening marriage. His recommendations are different from those prescribed by the natural man, mortal therapist, or fallen world.
As Susan Page (2006) has wisely observed, most marriages can be rescued when we choose to show loving actions regardless of our spouses’ behavior. When we fill ourselves with heavenly goodness, most irritations with our spouses disappear. That is God’s invitation in marriage.
God has known the principles of healthy relationships from the beginning. Often we have not taken Him seriously. So God has graciously unleashed a flood of truth even through social scientists. Yet He is the powerful healer. He invites “will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?” (3 Nephi 9:13).
Marriage has not become, in the last few decades, more difficult and treacherous than ever before. What has changed is not the nature of marriage but that our commitment has lessened while our demands and expectations have escalated. That is not a celestial combination.
If, when we confront the impossible Red Seas of marriage, we turn to God, to his power and his principles, we will find a miraculous way opening before us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is simply the most under-utilized resource in the universe. Faith, humility, kindness, and charity are the timeless virtues that strengthen relationships.
Invitation:
Thank you for your interest in Brother Goddard’s book! He has received far more requests for free books than he can fill. If you would like to buy the book, please go to
References:
Davis, M. W. (2002). Divorce Remedy. New York: Fireside.
Doherty, W. J. (2001). Take Back Your Marriage. New York: Guilford.
Gottman, J. M. (1994). Why Marriages Succeed or Fail and How You Can Make Yours Last. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Gottman, J. M. (1999). The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. New York: Crown.
Page, S. (2006). Why Talking is Not Enough: 8 Loving Actions that will Transform Your Marriage. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Carol BestMay 11, 2015
I am currently two thirds of the way through this wonderful book. I love how Br. Goddard applies gospel principles to the challenges we face in a marriage. I have learned a great deal and am looking forward to sharing this book with others. I think every married couple should have this and use it! It would make a wonderful gift to newly married, or about to be married couples.
SilverRainMay 1, 2015
I love this advice, and believe in it. Yet, I did all these things in my marriage and it wasn't enough. The more I gave, the more he took. And once I trusted God to fight my battles, He did so by guiding me out the door. I've had years to heal, but that still hurts.... So just remember that when you call on God, the answer may not be what you were hoping for.