Where to begin ?
 

Here is the situation. Woman lives a "Christian" life (not sure what her denomination was but it was not Apostolic). Suffers through an abusive marriage. Comes out of it a non-believer because "all the days he was beating me and I asked God to make it stop, it never stopped, no God would allow this to happen". Her point of view at the moment is the Bible is just a book and God is not real.

She has walked out of church at the end of service the few times she has accepted my invitation with tears in her eyes, yet still no break through. She still holds to her belief . "God is no different from Santa Clause or the tooth fairy, he was created by man to make himself feel good about something, to have something to believe in" .

My question. Where do I start ? How do I approach this conversation ?

Re: Where to begin ?
 

Fasting prayer and a gentle home bible study. Just a look at the Word to understand it and decide later if it is "real" or not.At least she has come to church.

Re: Where to begin ?
 

As someone who has lived through something similar, I will tell you that from my perspective, words are meaningless. Trying to persuade her about God is not going to do the job, the only way that she will ever believe in God or trust anything about Him, is if she see Him through you and your actions. Be Christ (like) and she will see Him.

Re: Where to begin ?
 

:thumbsup

Re: Where to begin ?
 

Amen!

Re: Where to begin ?
 

Yeah, nothing you say will probably make a difference. If she doesn't believe in God, nothing you say about Him will hold much weight. By all means try, if you so desire, just do it in a loving way. Good luck.

Re: Where to begin ?
 

Just be her friend and pray for her. Don't try to force or convince her of anything. God himself will reveal himself when it is time.

Re: Where to begin ?
 

Be real and be kind, and pray for her.

What finally helped me was understanding that God gave us free will... and because He gave us free will, He won't stop a person from doing something bad anymore than He will force us to be saved. There are times He intervenes, but He doesn't intervene nearly as often as the testimonies lead people to think. Yet, all things work together for good... not all things ARE good or He will make only good things happen, but good can be derived even from the most horrible situations if we allow Him to bring good from them.

But before she can come to that point, she's going to have to realize some other things... perhaps that it wouldn't have been wrong of her to divorce an abusive husband, or that she could have left and didn't... whatever it is that only she and God know that might bring her to a point of understanding. If someone had told me that it was man's choice, not God's, to hurt me, I would have resisted because I did ask Him to make it stop, and good religious people told me that God had to stop it, that I couldn't because if I tried I'd be stepping out of His will.

It takes time for deep wounds to heal. Sometimes the best balm is not telling someone about Jesus, but letting Him shine through our lives.

Re: Where to begin ?
 

My advice would be to be a friend to this woman,show concern don't be pushy,pray for her.

Re: Where to begin ?
 

I don't know what you can say...perhaps for now nothing directly towards her situation. You can show her love and pray for her. Consider that too she may not actually not believe in God anymore...she is just majorily mad at God

Re: Where to begin ?
 

Re: Where to begin ?
 

Just remember it is not our job to save or break down her will. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. Be the hands and feet of Jesus and pray consistently for her salvation.

Re: Where to begin ?
 

Some things only God can do. But what He does, He does well. :heart

Re: Where to begin ?
 

I think praying that God soften her heart and open her eyes would be a good prayer too. Pray that prayer and show her the love of Christ through you - - a good combination.

This is harsh, but God didn't allow that to happen to her - - she allowed it. And, it breaks my heart that women are subject to such evil men.

Re: Where to begin ?
 

I would definitely pray for her, be non judgmental but loving and ask the Lord for wisdom for what to say, if anything at all, and when