THE LIST
One of the times I heard God speak the most loudly to me was when I was head-over-heels in love, so I couldn’t trust my mind or my heart to make rational decisions. I needed God’s guidance because people in love can do crazy things!
My boyfriend, Ben, and I had been talking about getting married, but we wanted to make sure that it was part of God’s plan. It felt right to both of us, but life experiences had taught us that we could not just blindly trust our feelings.
We wanted to make sure that God was actually leading us down this path toward wedded bliss.
So, we got on our knees and asked God to please speak to us and reveal His plan for our relationship. We asked that He would make it crystal clear so there would be no room for doubt. We committed to doing a 21-day Daniel Fast, with the intent of pressing in to listen for His reply.
Finally, we made a list of the 12 things that would need to happen or fall into place for us to know that God wanted this union. 12! Isn’t that nuts?
We wanted to be sure.
The list contained a wide variety of circumstances – like getting a blessing from both sides of the family, my 2 kids being at peace with gaining a step-dad, Ben being able to refinance his house, both of us being able to get rid of small amounts of debt, and more.
We promised each other that if we didn’t hear about all of those things with 100% certainty, we would wait and not proceed.
By the end of day 18 of the fast, all 12 things on the list had been knocked out.
ALL OF THEM.
Some without us even pursuing them – like the day we were in the car with my parents and my Dad turned around out of the blue and said, “Ben, just so you know, you have our blessing.”
HE GAVE US A BLESSING WITHOUT US EVEN ASKING FOR ONE AND HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT WAS ON THE LIST. The next day, Ben’s sister stopped by and said the same thing – without us asking!
We ended every night of the fast with a prayer of thanksgiving and I remember praising God for his faithfulness and being amazed as He daily revealed His plan to us. God made it so abundantly clear that Ben said he would feel disobedient if he didn’t propose to me!
On the last day of the fast, Ben and I went out for dinner and he asked me to be his wife. Never had I felt more certain of an answer in my entire life.
ABSOLUTELY YES!
About Aminta
Aminta and I lived next door to each other during our freshman year at Bethel University. We got to know each other through late night conversations and taking on new adventures together. We reconnected a few years ago as our paths crossed so that we could pray for one another.
She goes after Jesus with reckless abandon and that is her calling and her pursuit in life. I have loved following her life’s journey on her blog, amintageisler.com. She also shares her stories and interviews others on her new podcast, Mint. Making Spiritual Things Practical. Check out what she is up to and how she is activity partnering with the Lord to further His kingdom.