When Divorce is Inevitable But God Steps In

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In today’s blog, I want to share a true-life story. What I want you to see are the simple things that can destroy a marriage. This is a heartbreaking story that has a beautiful ending simply because one party was wise enough to run to God and let God take the lead in the situation. 

 Dave was a hardworking man, deeply committed to his job. He was a top executive in his office located in a city different from where he lived with his wife and four children. For about five years, he stayed in the company’s guest house during the workweek and returned home on weekends. It was an arrangement both he and Lindsay—his wife—had agreed to, though it was far from ideal.

Lindsay was a stay-at-home mom, and the family relied heavily on Dave’s income. Though the separation wore on her, she accepted it, trusting that it was temporary and necessary. She kept their communication simple—mostly “Good morning” messages—because she never knew when Dave would be free.

But Lindsay had one thing anchoring her: a strong relationship with Jesus.

One Friday evening, Lindsay went all out. She cooked Dave’s favorite meal, cleaned the house, and ensured everything was perfect to avoid any quarrel. Their marriage already felt like walking on eggshells, and she was doing her best to hold things together.

Dave came home late, as usual. He didn’t greet her. He didn’t touch the food. He went straight to bed.

Lindsay stood stunned. There’d been no disagreement before he left on Monday. Their only communication during the week had been her routine “good morning” messages, which he had responded to.

Trying not to provoke anything, she let him be and spent the night in her children’s room. Her children were off to boarding school, with only her last baby in the house. But sleep wouldn't come. Her heart was restless. Her thoughts raced. Why was he ignoring her again? What had she done?

She lay on the bed, restless for about two hours. At around 1:00 AM, she decided to confront him. She stood up and walked to her matrimonial bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she tapped his feet to wake him up. 

His eyes opened—cold, angry, accusing. “What?” he asked sharply.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” she said quietly, “but I just wanted to know if I’ve done something wrong. You didn’t speak to me or eat anything.”

Dave sat up, face hard. “Do you really want to know what you’ve done?”

Her heart pounded. “Yes,” she said. “I want to know.”

The marriage had been a constant drain on her emotions and mental state, but she wanted to know what the matter was this time.

He stared at her. “Haven’t you noticed I’ve been avoiding you since yesterday?”

She blinked. Honestly, she hadn’t. She was so used to being ignored by him that this felt like more of the same.

Then came the bombshell.

“Who’s the father of the children you’ve given birth to?”

Lindsay was confused. “What children?”

“Our children,” he said, eyes blazing. “While I was sleeping last night, something woke me up—and my spirit told me they’re not mine.”

She laughed—dry, bitter laughter. “Since when did you become a pastor? If the Spirit of God is speaking, He won’t say something that’s a lie.”

That only enraged him more. “You must be stupid to think I’m joking!” he roared, unleashing a torrent of insults. He hurled vile words at her with venom, breaking her heart with each one.

Lindsay stood frozen in shock, tears pouring down her face. The man she had once adored now looked like a stranger—a cruel, unrecognizable shadow. She wondered what she had done to deserve this from him. He poured himself a glass of whiskey while she returned to her children’s room, trembling.

She cried. Deep, gut-wrenching sobs. Her chest tightened from the pain. She called her sister, desperate for comfort, but the ache remained.

Then she prayed. She cried out to God with words only He could understand. Slowly, the tightness in her chest began to ease. She spoke to God, telling Him she needed to sleep. Soon, her sobs faded. Peace started to settle in.

She fell asleep.

Four hours later, she awoke to a stirring in her heart. She heard the Lord speak clearly: “Go and speak to your husband. Say what I tell you to say.”

She obeyed. She entered the room and tapped Dave’s feet until he woke up. He still looked at her with disgust, but she spoke anyway.

“Whatever spirit told you those children are not yours… it was right.”

Dave sat up, stunned, eager to hear the whole confession.

His wife had been cheating on him after all, he thought.

“But,” she continued, “before I tell you who their real father is, I want you to do a DNA test on all four children. And when the results come out, let me see them. After that, I’ll take them to their real father.”

The power in her voice shook him.

That was a challenge he didn’t see coming. The rage in his eye fell. All of a sudden, he became sober.

“What have I just done?” he thought.

He reached out, trying to hold her. But this time, she had reached her breaking point. She took a few steps back to avoid his grip.

“Tell me, Dave,” she said. “How much money did you have when I agreed to marry you? Was it your wealth that attracted me to you? Now that you’re successful, now that your bank account is full, this is how you reward me? By accusing me of adultery and infidelity? Of passing another man’s children off as yours?”

She turned to leave. Dave grabbed her hand, panicked.

“I don’t know what came over me,” he said. “I just... I woke up at 3 a.m. and heard a voice telling me to ask about the children. I couldn’t shake it off. I’m not saying all of them aren’t mine—maybe one or two...”

“I’ve told you already,” she interrupted. “None of them are yours. Do the DNA test, and I’ll take them to their real father.”

With that, she walked away—heart aching but strangely lighter.

She felt much better than she had felt a couple of hours before. She knew she wanted to sleep and get better rest.

Dave sat in silence. Broken. Convicted. He tried to beg, but this was just too heavy to overlook and assume never happened. Other offenses can be ignored easily, but not this one.

Later, he came to her in their children’s room where she was staying. He knelt. He cried. He begged. He let go of his ego and asked for forgiveness. And Lindsay, through the voice of God in her heart, heard the whisper: Let it go.

She could not ignore the voice. The courage, boldness, and words she needed to confront the situation came from that voice.

She forgave and let go. 

—

The story didn’t start with the DNA test. Years earlier, a doctor’s visit had shaken Dave. One of their children was to undergo a minor surgery that required a genotype test as a pre-surgery requirement. The result of that test revealed that the child’s genotype didn’t match what Dave believed was his own or that of Lindsay.

Lindsay didn’t take this seriously as she was convinced she had not cheated on her husband. To her, there was no reason to be afraid.  They decided to undergo a genotype test to dispel the suspicion. When they finally did, they found Dave’s genotype wasn’t what he thought it was. His genotype matched that of his child perfectly. But the seed of doubt had already been planted.

Social media stories about paternity fraud added fuel to his fears. Over the years, the doubt festered until it exploded into a storm that nearly wrecked their home.

Lindsay had no idea what Dave was going through. She never gave the genotype issue a thought after the test, as she assumed the result had settled the matter. Little did she know that Dave still had his doubts.

Two years after that night, circumstances led to a formal DNA test for all four children, conducted by a foreign organization.

The results: all four children were 99% matches with Dave.

That was the happiest day of his life.

The Bible instructs us not to be ignorant of the devices of the enemy. I am trying to imagine what the story would be if Lindsay had not prayed. If she decided to handle the situation based on the emotions at that time. Or probably seeking help from a human rather than God.

The devil would have ripped that marriage apart with a false accusation. Probably the damage would have been more intense than it was. They might have realised the truth when it was a little too late.

No matter how simple or big the issue is, your first point of call should always be God. If you have experienced Him through little miracles, you'll always be sure He’ll come through with big challenges, like the one we have above. You cannot do marriage based on your intellect. You will always need God to make it a beautiful experience.