The Lord before “The Love”

Let us receive from the conversation between Pastor Priji and Tara Bhattacharya on marriage. Tara is settled in Dubai with wife, Manisha and have been blessed with a baby. He was born in a different faith and now carries a beautiful relationship with Christ. He has been married for 8 years.

Transcript:

Pastor Priji: When and where did you meet your wife?

Tara: I met her at church. We had a lot of responsibilities individually and connected eventually. In a place of seeing broken and dysfunctional marriages all around me, I did not look or seek for a woman. We both grew in difficult households; through which we did not see the need of a marriage. We both were passionate about serving the Lord and the lost. It was great to see her serve the Lord and I carried immense respect for her.

After two years, she left to India, quitting her job and I turned out to be upset. I asked her to come back and gave her the reason to marry me over a text. After which, I had to apologize for asking her. She said, she wanted to pray and not get carried by her emotions and we stayed without any communication. The Lord in the spirit spoke to her, her mother and her sister too. She also received a confirmation from God through a man of God. God is kind and gracious, the ultimate matchmaker.

As we were at the centre of His will and did not make any mistakes, He had opened his ways for us. He is so faithful to those who carry the desire to serve Him. God just answered our prayers. For all those who are single, seek His kingdom and everything else shall be added unto you which includes your life partner despite any age. For me, getting married to someone who had more fire was crucial as I did not want to be laid back.

Pastor Priji: This will genuinely minster to people who have the pursuit of marriage and also help them trust in the Lord and keenly wait upon Him. Let me ask you, as you were ‘anti-woman’ how was your journey from there to this far? Did you become perfect before marriage? What was the process that God took you through to understand the perspective of marriage?

Tara: That is such a good question. Sometimes we all have blind spots and God is so kind enough to reveal these blind spots to you. He is such a wonderful teacher. I watched sermons on marriage 8 years before I did.

It was because my friends were married and after a few years, they asked me not to. Out of sheer love and concern, I began to listen to sermons not intending to learn from it but download and give it to my married friends who complained. We never had access to resources back then. In the process of listening to this, God was teaching me biblical marriage and taught me to discern what to receive and what not to, even though I had no intention to marry.

As I began to spend time with my friends and family, God developed the desire of a family within me. If I had not seen my friends in their marriages with conflicts, love and reconciliation, I wouldn’t have had this desire. Without me realising, God had built this desire and I was trying to supress it. It is a process which is highly associated with hunger. The realisation of us not knowing all the answers and identifying our blind spots.

Pastor Priji: Thank you so much, Tara. This will definitely minister to all those who are in the pursuit of marriage.

You can reach out to Tara Bhattacharya at unity1body.org