Thomas and Angela were completely in love when they got married. But when the luster faded, marriage was hard. There was selfishness, betrayal, and unforgiveness, and the couple was at the point of divorce. Then Thomas, a photojournalist at the time, got assigned to photograph a young Pastor Mark for a newspaper feature.
When Angela confessed her sin, Thomas told Pastor Mark, “I want blood for this.” And Pastor Mark responded, “You’ve already got blood for this—it’s the blood of Jesus.” Thomas realized that, as a Christian, it would be hypocritical of him to not forgive his wife.
Even though there was joy in bringing sin to light, the couple still had a long, hard road of forgiveness and repentance to walk down. It required them to both fully trust God and his plan the whole way.
“I think a lot of people will hear about our testimony and think that we’re unique, that God’s done something for us or in us that he won’t do for other people. And I think that’s a real mistake.
The truth is that it’s the gospel that redeems us, it’s the blood of Christ that redeems us, and it is a day-in, day-out desire to want to love Jesus more than we want to love ourselves, and then want to offer the same type of forgiveness that God gives us every day.
From the moment of that day, it really has been just a constant pursuit of Jesus. There’s no other way to describe it, and it has sometimes felt long and hard. But God’s story for us, he continues to have a plan.”
–Pastor Thomas
What’s your story? Has God redeemed your marriage through the ministries of Mars Hill? Tell us your story at stories@marshill.com.
Thomas Hurst is the lead pastor of Mars Hill Downtown Bellevue.
