The Silent Treatment Theory

I learned a big lesson from the book of proverbs on what I want to call the silent treatment. Unlike what we are accustomed to on the need to express ourselves and how we feel, what I learned from Proverbs 17:28 and Proverbs 18:2 speaks more on the gains of keeping silent rather than expressing one’s self most especially when the timing is wrong. The inability to keep silent at the right time has led to a lot of abuse in marriages and even deaths in marriages.

Surprisingly, Proverbs 18:6 (NIV) says the mouth of a fool invites beatings, and the NKJV version of Proverbs 18:6 says the mouth of a fool calls for blows. I am sure a lot of people don’t know that this scripture exists in the Bible but the truth is that it does. So, you need to then ask yourself, what is your mouth inviting? We then read in Proverbs 17:28 that even a fool is thought to be wise when he keeps silent and discerning when he holds his tongue. So contrary to the perception that you must express yourself, keeping silent might actually do more good than speaking out at the wrong time.

In the face of arguments with your spouse would you rather air your views, express yourself, or hold your peace. Is the need to be right greater for you than the need to have a happy and loving marriage? Are you aware that your silence speaks more than your voice? I learned all of these in the midst of turbulence in my marriage and it solved for me more problems than I could ever imagine. And truth be told no-one can quote silence, yet it speaks greater than words.

A lot of women, including men though, find it hard to be silent when they have issues burning in their hearts. I am included in that category and we are all learning together. But I have learned to overlook a lot of things in my marriage for the singular reason of maintaining the peace of my home and because I hold my marriage in greater esteem than the will to be right. I have learned to pray hard before I speak if I have to speak at all. So, if those burning issues come, that I am struggling to overlook, I pray first and when I have prayed and still feel the urge to speak, I then ask God to speak through me and give me words to say. Proverbs 16:24 teaches us that pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Your words count for something in your marriage. They can either heal it or tear it down. When you are angry, pause, and pray.

You will agree with me that it is quite difficult to not express oneself most especially when angry or hurt. I was in that position too, a long time ago, but I began to practice this silent treatment theory until it became me. Now I keep silent effortlessly and overlook issues easily now more than before because I have done it for many years.

It is also true that the grace of God played a big role for me and some people are of the opinion that some people have more grace to cope than others. The truth is that the grace of God is like a river that flows unending. When you go to the river to fetch water, the quantity of water you draw from the river is determined by the size of the container you go to the river to draw water with. A person who goes with a 50cl container will not draw the same quantity of water as the person who goes with a 15ltrs container or a 50ltrs container. In the same vein, the capacity of God’s grace that you receive is determined by your brokenness and willingness to allow God to fill you up with His grace. As long as you keep feeling you can handle it yourself you shut yourself up to God’s help. So, when it appears that some receive more grace than you do, it's not really so. It is that some have given God more room to act in them and through them than you have.

In closing I will say that I have achieved far more with my silent treatment theory than I could ever imagine. I have earned my husband’s love and respect by holding my tongue and allowing God who can speak louder than I can ever speak, speak through my silence on my behalf. I have seen positive results and I can’t trade this for anything else.

Mind you, I still speak when I have too. But I get to pray before speaking and I allow God to guide my words. And yes, I still slip sometimes and speak out of anger, but that happens so very infrequently. So, you might not slip into the silent treatment mode so easily but keep practicing it, keep being broken, and willing to let God do the talking on your behalf and never stop praying.

Here is an eBook authored by me titled "God's Rules of Engagement in Marriage". It's a wonderful guide to glorious marriage. You can get a copy of the book from my online bookshop by clicking here. 

How to Solve the Problem

I was speaking with a friend one afternoon and she told me about another friend of hers (whom I do not know in person) that was having a serious marital issue. It appears the husband is having extra-marital affairs and she is totally broken by it (who won't be), and at a complete loss as to how to handle it. Though the husband is rich and gives her everything she needs and wants but he is not giving her the love and attention of a husband to his wife. She in turn nags a lot, monitors his movements, checks his phones but still, nothing has changed. Rather than the situation getting better, it’s getting worse and the husband can leave the home for days once they engage in their bout of quarrels which was getting a little too often. When I asked my friend to advise the woman to start to pray, she told me that the situation has degenerated to a point where the wife says she can’t find herself praying for her husband again.

The last statement of the previous paragraph is the main focus of my marriage blog today. Never allow your emotions to drive you to the point where you cannot seek the face of God for a change in your marital situation. I dare to say that there is nothing the lady above can do by herself that can bring her husband back home to her without the divine intervention of God. I say this with every sense of conviction because I know what it feels like to watch your marriage gradually slipping away from your grasp. It’s not your beauty, nor your ability to cook good meals, nor your expert knowledge in home-keeping or sex that can deliver you from such a situation such as this except the divine leading of the Holy Spirit on what to do to orchestrate the change you seek.

I have written in several of my blog posts that when you pray for God’s intervention in your marriage, He wouldn’t come and do magic on your husband, and then the next morning you wake up to see a brand new version of your husband lying in bed with you. That is not how God works. Rather when you pray, you learn to listen to God and He will teach you what to do and what steps to take that will bring about a change in your husband that you desire. The biggest part of the change starts with you and then your change brings about a change in your husband.

When I was trusting God and praying for His visitation in my marriage, He did visit and all I kept hearing from Him was to submit to my husband as unto the Lord. It felt awkward at that time as I had considered myself perfect in all my ways and that my husband was all the problem. But little did I know that even though I respected my husband so much, I didn’t obey him until the Lord showed me my fault and helped me make the necessary adjustment that resulted in the glorious change in my marital situation. From then to date I haven’t stopped going to God for every step I have to take, every direction I need to follow and I thank God that I am enjoying my marriage today.

The greatest undoing a wife can do to herself is to stop praying for her husband because what you want to get from him can only be gotten by divine wisdom that comes from God through prayers. Great ideas for a successful marriage comes from God, a wife who seeks a beautiful marriage must be a wife who seeks God first and get inspirations from God to run successfully her marital race.

Here is an eBook from me titled God's Rules of Engagement in Marriage. You can get a copy of it from my online book store by clicking this link https://thewordthatsuits.com/shop/gods-rules-of-engagement-in-marriage-ebook/

Pray the Changes You Want in Your Marriage into Existence

I had planned to give up on the marriage blog, first and foremost because of the time constraint that I was beginning to suffer from, and also because the pageviews for the marriage blog was beginning to dwindle and I just assumed that people are beginning to outgrow what is shared on the blog. But a purpose will always remain a purpose and because of the joy I feel knowing that lives and marriages are been impacted by what is shared on the blog even if it's just a few people still reading it, it's still worth my resolve that it’s not a wise decision to just give it up. I sincerely seek the grace of God to help me continue and remain consistent in this assignment amidst the so many important things needing attention in my life.

Quite a lot of issues have come to mind that requires discussing on the marriage blog regarding issues of marriage. I was speaking to a young friend of mine who is yet to marry and she told me that "Aunty, you need to understand that men of your generation are quite different from the men of our generation," and that the men of their generation are such that they are quite complacent with doing nothing while they allow their wives to carry the bulk of the marital load.

I am in my mid-forties, while she is in her early thirties and I cannot agree or disagree with her point of view, but that reminds me of a speaking engagement I was invited to sometime in 2018. It was supposed to be the married men anniversary of a church and they were having a couple’s session and I was invited to come to speak to the couples from a woman’s perspective (those in attendance at that meeting were not of the young generation, they were mostly in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s). During the question and answer part of the program, I was asked by a wife that what should a wife who was supposed to submit to her husband in everything do if the husband would not pick up the bills in the home and take up his rightful leadership position even in financial matters simply because he knows his wife is working and is capable of paying the bills in the house?

I answered the question at the meeting and would want to share the answer again in today’s blog. A man by God’s calling on his life is the head of the home and the leader in all things including being the leader in carrying the financial responsibility of the home. If a man is unable to fulfill this role of a leader in the home then such a man needs help, and because the wife is his suitable helper, she is the one assigned by God to help him up. But helping your husband in this regard does not mean taking up the responsibility that God has given him as your own and doing for him what he is supposed to be doing as the head of the home.

The help required from the wife primarily is to pray the glory of God down on her husband such that everything he lays his hands upon to do he will begin to prosper in it. That is the time to learn to encourage your husband with words that will make him understand that his situation is only temporary and with God all things are possible. Words have life in them and when you speak the right words into the life of your husband in prayers and encouragement then life comes into his situation and dry bones will come alive for him again.

Now imagine being the wife of the richest man on earth. Precisely whatever income you earn as a wife to a very wealthy man is totally insignificant to your husband because he has more than enough to bother about what you earn. So the secret to your ultimate peace of mind in marriage when it comes to financial matters is that as a wife you pray always and never stop praying that God will make your husband so wealthy that what you earn, big as it may seem to you, becomes totally insignificant to him. Remember the fervent prayer of the righteous avails much.

Far more than your income can solve in this matter, your prayers in truth and with love and sincerity can solve much more. So, get on your knees and begin to call the changes you want to see in your marriage into existence. God is still in the business of answering prayers.

Here is an eBook from me titled God's Rules of Engagement in Marriage. You can get a copy of it from my online book store by clicking here.