Episode 001 - Elisa's Testimony

Leaving a marriage is never an easy decision, but God will never ask us to stay in a situation that pulls us away from Him. For five years, Elisa found herself treading water in a relationship with a high-functioning alcoholic, repeatedly pushing life preservers his way only to watch them drift back untouched. Her story isn't just about divorce—it's about recognizing when God is speaking, even when His messages come through painful revelations.

Like the boiling frog that doesn't perceive danger when changes happen gradually, she had slowly acclimated to toxic conditions. It took a simple prayer—"God, show me whatever you need me to see"—for undeniable clarity to arrive. Through Al-Anon meetings where she couldn't speak for months, through a father who saw her losing her spirit, through professionals who spoke truth when she needed it most, God was extending His hand in rescue operations she initially refused to board.

The beautiful truth she discovered through her darkest days is that God never wastes our pain. The storm she thought would destroy her became the catalyst for transformation she desperately needed. Today, standing in unexpected joy and peace, she recognizes that even the blank sheet of uncertainty that once terrified her was actually the beginning of the greatest love story—one between a faithful God and His beloved child. If you're weathering your own storm right now, consider that perhaps it hasn't come to break you but to remake you into something stronger and more beautiful than before. Don't just pray for the storm to end; ask for the strength to walk through it and the wisdom to understand what it's here to teach you.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi friends, my name is Elisa Martin and, much like
Angelique's story, my story islayered and messy, with many
more details than I can unpackhere today, but what matters
most is that it's a story abouthow God is always speaking, how
he kept showing up and, even inthe struggle, he was using every

(00:21):
moment to grow me and lead meback home, was using every
moment to grow me and lead meback home.
So I was married from 2015 to2020, and five years ago, I
faced the hardest decision of mylife Do I stay in a marriage
with a man whose choices wereslowly breaking my spirit, or do
I leave, breaking my commitmentto save myself?
For the eight months leading upto that decision, I was going

(00:45):
to Al-Anon, and, if you're notfamiliar with it, aa is for the
person struggling with alcohol,and then there's Al-Anon for the
people around them, the oneswhose lives are being affected
in silence.
Every week, you have a chanceto speak, but for months, every
time it was my turn, all I couldsay was I pass.
My emotions were just way toohigh.

(01:06):
It was kind of like I washolding back this floodgate.
At the time, I was married to ahigh-functioning alcoholic and
an emotionally unhealthy man.
But the reality is, I too hadto face the truth that clearly I
had my own emotional health totend to, because in retrospect
there were warning signs that Ilet slide and because, you know,

(01:30):
some part of me probablybelieved that I could love him
enough to heal what was brokeninside of him.
But here's the thing I mean,you can't ever do the work for
another person and you need tobe healthy enough not to want to
.
But one of the really amazingthings about God is that he's
kind, even in His correction.

(01:51):
Not necessarily easy, but he'skind.
So one day in that supportgroup I finally had the courage
to speak up, and there was noadvanced preparation, no real
understanding of the words thatwould just suddenly start
flowing out of my mouth.
I just started speaking andI'll never forget what I said.
I said it feels like my husbandand I are in the middle of the

(02:16):
ocean just struggling to treadwater during a terrible storm,
with swells so high it's hardfor us to stay afloat, and there
was me and him and a lifepreserver.
I swim and I grab it and I pushit to him, only to have him
push it away.
I swim and I get it again, andhe just pushes it farther away

(02:37):
and over and over again.
I'm growing weaker and weaker,thinking this time he's surely
going to reach it and save usboth from drowning.
And I'll tell you what it was.
In that moment that everythingthat God was already trying to
get me to see came full circlefor me, and that was it was time

(02:58):
for me to get out of the waterand to save myself.
Now, that moment of claritycame shortly before I finally
had the courage to move out.
But the truth is, god hadalready been speaking to me,
trying to get my attention inmany different ways, long before
that moment.
You know, sometimes we confuselove and loyalty.

(03:23):
It's true that God hatesdivorce and he honors commitment
, but he will never ask us tostay in a situation that pulls
us away from Him or from who hemade us to be.
Over the years in my marriage,sometimes God whispered and
sometimes he yelled.
Other times he used ordinarypeople to try to get through to

(03:44):
me when I didn't want to see,like my life coach who told me I
was the boiling frog.
I hated that metaphor, but myunderstanding is it's also
science.
So if a frog is put intoboiling water, it jumps out
immediately because it perceivesthat it's in danger.
But if that same frog is is putinto lukewarm water and brought

(04:04):
to a boil slowly, the frogdoesn't even realize it's in
danger and it's literally cookedto death.
I would say that that wasdefinitely an early God whisper.
But then came the moment that Iwill never forget, when God made
sure that I knew that themessage was straight from him.
So I was home, alone andfeeling completely lost in terms

(04:27):
of what to do, and I happenedto see a show that day and I say
happened because I don'tbelieve that it was coincidence
at all and that show said thatwhen you're feeling lost, ask
God a simple prayer, and thatprayer is God, show me whatever
you need me to see.
So I laid my head on the pillowthat night and I asked that

(04:51):
very prayer with an open heart,and the very next morning God
answered that prayer, and heanswered it loud.
Now I'm not going to shareexactly what he showed me, but
let's just say that he revealedtruths that dishonored our
marriage and shattered anyremaining trust between us.
But I still didn't leaveimmediately.

(05:15):
And from there, god, he keptrevealing many more things that
I didn't want to see, like mydad, with tears in his eyes, who
said you're losing your spirit.
To a psychologist who had onlymet my husband and I like three
times.
And when I asked him a directquestion I thought he'd never
answer, because they never do.

(05:36):
I said if I were your daughter,what would you tell her?
And he looked me right in theeyes and he said I'd tell her to
run for her life.
And then even back to that lifecoach.
You know the boiling frog.
He hit me with another hardtruth.
You know another warning, reallywrapped in truth, and that was

(05:57):
the parable of the flood.
And if you don't know thisstory, this is how it goes.
There's a man who's trapped inhis house during a flood and he
prays to God to save him.
And so a neighbor offers him aride to safety in his truck and
the man says that's okay, god'sgoing to save me.
And so the waters rise so highthey force the man onto the

(06:19):
second floor and now a boatcomes by and he still passes
saying God will save me.
Then the waters rise so highthey force the man all the way
onto the roof of the house, andnow a helicopter comes by and
the man says no, stating Godwill save me.
Well, if you know this parable,then you know what happens next

(06:42):
.
And that is the man drowns.
And when he gets to heaven hesays God, why didn't you save me
?
And God's like dude, I sent youa truck, a boat and a
helicopter.
What more could I do?
You see, god is he's.
He's always speaking, but thequestion is are we really tuned

(07:06):
in and listening?
You know it's funny.
When I share my story, I oftensay that you could say that I
too passed on my truck and myboat and I made my way all the
way onto that metaphorical roof.
But when God's helicopter came,I took His hand and for that
amazing grace, I wouldn't haveit any other way.

(07:28):
You know, I wouldn't even tradethe pain, and there were
unspeakably dark days, days Iwished that a fatal car crash
would take me out, or a terminaldiagnosis just to stop the pain
in my heart.
But even on those days, inthose moments, god was with me,

(07:50):
and today I can say withcomplete and total certainty
that I'm exactly where I'msupposed to be and I'm becoming
more and more the woman heintended for me to be.
And through all of it.
Wow, I have grown in ways thatI never imagined, and there is
this peace and this joy in myheart like I've never known

(08:13):
before.
And now God's using me in manyways, and sharing these stories
is so important because he usesthem to help other people, to
remind you that when the ruggets pulled out from under you,
when what you thought that yourlife would look like becomes

(08:34):
like this blank sheet ofuncertainty, even that can be a
love story.
In fact, it could be the lovestory.
So if you're in the middle ofyour own storm right now, let me
say this Don't just ask God totake away the storm.

(08:55):
Ask him for the strength towalk you through it.
Ask him to show you what thestorm is here to teach you,
because I had a lot to learnthrough mine.
There were red flags that Iignored, choices that I made
that I had to own, and growththat I needed to lean into that

(09:15):
had me in that kind ofrelationship in the first place.
So maybe, just maybe, the stormyou thought came to break you
is actually the very thing thatGod wants to use to transform
you, and if you let him, he willtake every tear every broken
piece and he will buildsomething stronger, something

(09:38):
more beautiful and somethingmore full of purpose than you
ever imagined, I promise you.