Music for Surviving Adultery: Part 1

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God, you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.
Isaiah 43:2-4

In December 2016, I sat in front of the computer, my newborn cradled in my arms, staring at the evidence of betrayal by my husband/”best friend”/”Ministry Partner,” staring right back at me with it’s cold, unflinching truth.

I felt sick to my stomach.

“Oh Jesus, help me,” came the whispered words from my mouth.

The very next words that came to my mind were the words of a song I hadn’t heard in years. “If You Want Me To,” by Ginny Owens, helped carry me through the blur of the next few months. Whenever I sang those words to myself, it was with new resolve to take one more step, and put my trust in Jesus again and again, though my world had become a nightmare from which I kept hoping to wake up.

Though her song has spoken to many who are going through divorce and betrayal, Ginny wrote it about her struggle with God’s call on her life as a singer/songwriter, though she had lost her sight at three years old.

The lyrics seem to come straight out of James 1:2-4.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.