Set Free from Her Struggles - Katie Hodges

"Hey girlfriend! My name is Katie Hodges. I’m married to Michael, and we will have been married 3 years this upcoming June. We have a baby boy named Rhett who will be 1 year old in June. He is the cutest, chunkiest little boy! Even though Rhett has added so much joy to my life the past few months, the past year-and-a-half has been the absolute hardest season I have ever had to walk through. Let me preface everything by saying that Michael and I are both in agreement about what I’m about to say.

On September 16, 2017, our marriage hit rock bottom. Michael broke my trust in a very painful way. Our wedding vows shattered, anger, bitterness, insecurity, and distrust rose within me. I had experienced each of these emotions before—but never like this. It left me feeling so alone; I truly believed that no one could ever or would ever understand the pain I was feeling. I had been betrayed by the one person in my life who was supposed to love me the most.

Before you get married, you never picture marriage to be the source of pain. No one goes into marriage thinking their worst nightmare will happen. Most people know it’s going to be hard, but they don’t always know how hard—at least this was the case for me. I’ve spent the past year and half coming to the realization that maybe, as hard as it has been, this is exactly what needed to happen for me.

The Bible says in Proverbs 27:17 that “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” It’s easy to think iron getting sharpened happens within healthy conflict but sometimes it doesn’t (but who actually has healthy conflict?!). Sometimes that iron gets jabbed into the hearts of the people you love most. Regardless of which side of the iron you’re on, you have a choice in how you respond.

Do not get me wrong—Michael made decisions that the Lord never intended for him to choose. Those decisions have had soul-crushing consequences. While our common enemy, the devil, fought to destroy our marriage, God has used this trauma (which was not of His own design) to create something new and beautiful from the ashes in both of us.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is if you will stay committed and trust the Lord with your hurts (regardless of how big or how small), there is a love so big and so strong that has the power to comfort, heal, and restore in truly every single situation. It has the power to transform the blackest hearts, and it has the power to create a deeper intimacy with the Lord and one another.

When God created marriage, this was His intent all along—unity with one another (Colossians 3:14). For better or for worse. While we may be going through our worst, my hope and belief is that the best truly is yet to come."

-Katie Hodges. 

So thankful for Katie sharing her story with the Letters4Luv community! It is so exciting to see people from all over celebrating the message of freedom, even on the hard days! Set Free launches March 8th at 7:30 AM EST.