The Lord dropped the idea of OneP3 into our laps one day on a car trip soon after both of our husbands had left us. We weren’t sure what He was going to do with it, but we felt certain that He was asking us to embark on some sort of project based on this verse in 1 Peter 3. As we fought for our marriages, we poured over this verse in order to understand what exactly God was asking us to do. We desperately wanted to save our marriages and we hoped that all God required of us was to win our husbands over to God and to us by having the “incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit”—whatever that meant. It wasn’t that clear cut. We are a year into our journey and realize that God calls us to this standard regardless of what happens in our marriages. We have felt God lead us down unexpected paths. For one of us this appears to be reconciliation and for the other divorce. Even though we often don’t see the “winning over” in a way that we understand, we know that God still has something to teach us about being gentle and quiet.
We believe that God is allowing this journey for us, in part, so that we can be broken and poured out for other women going through this. It is obvious to us that this “project” God has given us has more to it than just our marriages. As we have struggled this last year to survive the emotional, physical and financial devastation of this crisis, we realized that there were many women like us who needed support in all these same ways. We want to help fill this need as sojourners down this excruciating road. Maybe that means being the physical hands and feet of Jesus to our sisters in similar situations. Maybe that means providing encouragement from the lessons we are learning and discovering what gentle and quiet is all about. Maybe it means literally winning husbands over by this behavior. We aren’t sure the scope of what God is planning, but we know that He is planning something and has asked us to be a part.
We trust God to make all of the details clear. Right now, we’re just remaining all ears. Whatever this project is, we know that it isn’t a formula to guarantee reconciled marriages or the outcomes that we desire. He is calling and we are obeying. There is something to this gentle and quiet that keeps us clay in the Potter’s hands. He will make a beautiful creation out of all of us and our lives if we follow Him. In God’s wisdom, this mystery of gentleness and quietness is the incorruptible beauty that woos. We don’t have to understand. We just have to obey. So, to discovering gentleness and quietness. Are you up for the challenge?