SIGNS OF STANDING -

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely
I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 18:19-20

Do you remember when you contacted Rejoice Marriage Ministries for the first time? If you did so online, one question asked was “Referred By,” followed by a list of options. No response to that question thrills my wife like “Billboards.” That usually means God used a sign by an Interstate highway to suddenly speak to another person in a hurting marriage.

The Rejoice billboards our family passes most often are 300 miles north of us, on the Florida Turnpike. The Lord gave us the perfect location for both northbound and southbound billboards, directly beside the northernmost toll plaza. Every vehicle on the Turnpike must stop, or at least slow, down beside the signs that proclaims in letters almost three feet tall; “There’s Hope – God Heals Hurting Marriages.”

The location’s traffic count show that 28,300 vehicles pass those two back-to-back signs every day. That means over ten million cars will pass “There’s Hope – God Heals Hurting Marriages” this year in Florida alone. We thank God that over two years ago, He allowed us to lease these high-visibility billboards that once advertised for Disney, but now proclaim God’s message for hurting spouses and broken marriages. There are also Rejoice Billboards in Missouri, Texas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Missippi, Tennessee, and and Washington State.

Our billboard project began several years ago, when God gave my wife a word to “proclaim” while we were traveling I-24 through Tennessee. By nightfall, we had rented our first billboard. Since then, we have used billboards, bus benches, radio, newspaper ads, and many other ways to proclaim the truth that “God Heals Hurting Marriages.” My wife’s vision is to have at least one billboard in every state.

What do billboards do? Not much, really. They simply stand. Say, isn’t that what you are doing? The bottom line is that you and the billboards are both proclaiming that “God Heals Hurting Marriages.”

One of the truths that keep my wife and I on track is knowing that other people are watching us. If we fail, we open the door for them to fail also. The same is true of your stand for marriage restoration. People are watching you that we will never meet. Our life will have no impact on them, but your life, and your stand, will.

I do not have the words to express how significant your stand with God for marriage restoration can be. People are watching what you do, and will make decisions in their own marriage based on what they see in you. During the years, we have heard of pastors who totally changed their thinking, their counseling, and their preaching, because of the conviction of the Holy Spirit, by observing one lone stander in their congregation. Counselors have awakened to what the Bible says about marriage and divorce, because of the faithful stand of one individual.

Before you can utter, “I don’t influence anyone,” please allow me to remind you about some people. Whose example will your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews follow when marriage trouble comes to their home? What about your co-workers? Your friends? Your neighbors who have noted the absence of your spouse? What else are they observing? What are your church friends seeing? What are they hearing from you? What are your church leaders observing? What does the postman see being delivered to you? What does the garbage man see being discarded by you?

Do you realize the place of influence God has you in right now?
Yes, you. Yes, right now. Regardless of location or vocation, if you are listening to God, and following His will, you are in His place of influence right now. You have been planted where you are so that you can stand as a witness to others about what God can do.

The accounts of standers in places of influence are too numerous to mention. In Washington, a coffee shop waitress who used to hand out copies of “Charlyne Cares” to some regular customers at the drive- thru window, (I said “used to” because she has a new job now that her marriage has been restored). We know of standing police officers who minister to spouses on some domestic calls, as does a magistrate.
(By the way, his marriage is now restored also!) There are standing radio station staff, many standing pastors, standing nurses, and standing teachers who can understand why the unruly child in their class is acting out. Standing lawyers can be first responders to a hurting marriage, as are our standing doctors and dentists. The standing file clerk in an office can minister hope and help, in the name of Jesus, to a divorcing employer. The standing repairman or handyman has many opportunities, right inside someone’s home, to speak a word about what God is doing in their own life.

Charlyne’s favorite example of standers in places of influence would have to be the stander who works for a billboard company. There is now a Rejoice billboard in his community, near the courthouse, where divorces cases are heard.

Did you know there are some people who we have to ask if they are still standing? One week they are standing strong, but the next week a storm blows into their life, and the stand is over. Their stand needs to be like the billboard; standing forever. A big storm may being a setback, but it does not affect the end result of their stand, nor of their witness for Christ.

When we drive up on the Florida Turnpike, we do not have to wonder if the Rejoice billboards are still standing. We know that they will be. Two years ago, when three hurricanes hit the boards, one side was destroyed and the other was blown across the pasture where it stands. Within a few weeks, both signs were “standing” again.
During this week between two holidays, a few people are saying, “This hurts too much and the storms are too great. I give up!” If they give up, they are forgetting two things:

(1) Who is going to be praying for their prodigal spouse if they stop praying? Whose prayer covering will be over their mate’s sinful condition. Will your beloved ever reach life eternal without the prayers of a covenant spouse?

(2) Who will stand in your place of influence if you give up? God has everything worked out to have you right where you are today.
Why would you say, “No thank you?”

It is not my assignment, nor is it Charlyne’s, to twist your arm and attempt to convince you to continue to stand for a prodigal spouse.
The Holy Spirit will bring His conviction without our help. It is our responsibility to make certain that you are viewing your position of influence to others correctly.

If a big storm has just blown through your life, be like Chet, our Florida billboard man, and get the sign of your standing up again, with God’s help, as soon as possible.

People who pass our way, on the Florida Turnpike, just like people who pass your way, need to hear that “God Heals Hurting Marriages.”
May we all continue to proclaim until Jesus comes.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And
pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so
that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in
chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”
Colossians 4:2

God bless,
Bob Steinkamp
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.®
Post Office Box 10548
Pompano Beach, FL 33061 USA
http://RejoiceOnline.org (Ministry)
http://StopDivorce.org (Bookstore)

P.S. You may know that the billboards are Charlyne’s favorite project. Her vision of having at least one billboard in every state has not diminished since God gave it to her. If you are looking for an end of year cause to invest into, I commend her billboard project to you. You can get specifics about helping to sponsor billboards by sending a blank email to – sign@rejoiceministries.org

Photos of the existing billboards can be viewed from -
http://rejoiceministries.org/photos/thumbnails.php?album=22

Contributions to the Billbord Fund can be made online from -
http://stopdivorce.org/Index.php?viewCat=11

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Rejoice Stop Divorce Bookstore has over 100 books and tapes to help you stand for marriage restoration God’s way – http://stopdivorce.org
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