Forgiving Against All Odds

Forgiving Against All Odds

Temptation is not a sin; it is an enticement to sin. Temptation becomes a sin when one yields to it
and sins. Many people think they are strong enough to handle temptations without yielding to
them. That is exactly what the woman in this story thought before she yielded to temptation.
Audrey and Robert Meisner had been married for 17 years. They were busy raising their three
teenagers, working on a daily TV show and serving as pastors of a church in Winnipeg, Canada.
On the surface, their marriage appeared to be a success until infidelity set in and threatened to
destroy it.

The Temptation
Audrey developed a friendship with a young male member of their church who became a family
friend. Since he did not have a family, it was very natural for the Meisners to welcome him to
their home. The young man began spending more time with the Meisners. He was energetic,
playful and liked to be with their kids.

The friendship, though innocent, gradually began to evolve into something more when the young
man started to flirt with Audrey. He began paying more attention to Audrey who found him
funny as he reminded her of being a kid again. He would overly flirt with her by telling her how
beautiful and desirable she was. Audrey’s heart gravitated towards him.

Before she realized it, she became hooked to the attention she was receiving from the man. She
felt good because she was needed and accepted. Whenever Audrey knew that the young man was
coming over for a visit, she would take time to look as beautiful as possible. She thought she was
in control of the situation and nothing would get out of hand.

Over time, their relationship grew closer and the flirting progressed to physical touching such as
massaging her feet. Still, Audrey did not think anything of it because she felt she was in control
and she could handle the situation.

Her husband became suspicious of the relationship when he noticed a change in the young man’s
behavior as he appeared uncomfortable around Robert. When Robert questioned her about it, she
denied that there was anything going on between them.

Yielding to Temptation
Thereafter, Audrey’s desire for the young man grew stronger and their physical contact became
more intense. If their shoulders bumped together or if his hands touched hers, she would feel
goosebumps all over her body. It was just a matter of time before they became sexually intimate.

Audrey found herself lying to her husband and children about her movements and whereabouts
in order to spend time alone with the man. She thought that she could maintain her marriage and
her love affair at the same time. The affair continued for three weeks.

After three weeks, the guilt became too much for her to bear. She ended the affair and told her
lover to leave town as she was going to tell her husband about it and ask for his forgiveness.

Although she knew hiding it would destroy their marriage, she was also not sure that telling him
would save it.

Her Husband’s Reaction
Two days after her lover left town, Audrey approached Bob when they were both alone in the
office. She was very scared because she did not know how he would react. She was shaking as
she knelt at his feet and, through tears, told him everything. She felt much shame and regret for
what she had done.

She immediately saw extreme rage and hatred come into Robert’s eyes. Every happy memory of
17 years of marriage was gone. He thought that she did not love him and neither had she loved
him all those years. Their marriage had been a farce. In his anger, Robert wanted to call their
church leaders to expose her sin to them. He did not want her to get off that easily.

But before he could expose her to public ridicule, Robert called a marriage counselor in Phoenix,
Arizona, who had been a guest on their television program. The counselor told him that there
was no way of undoing what had already been done. He advised him to be Christ-like and not
expose his wife in order to save his marriage. He also advised them to pray together before they
went to bed and to sleep in the same bed and not to submit to the spirit of divorce.

Robert certainly did not like the fact that the conversation was being directed toward him and not
Audrey. After all, she was the one who had messed up. Reluctantly, Robert followed the advice,
but it was one of the toughest nights of his life. Every happy memory of the past 17 years was
gone and he could hardly sleep that night.

From that moment onwards, the couple struggled to restore their shaky marriage. They were in
much pain and rarely spoke to each other. While Robert was angry, Audrey was dealing with
shame. Robert struggled with forgiveness, hurt and anger while Audrey wrestled with self-
forgiveness and guilt. But their ordeal was just beginning; another big bombshell exploded.

The Bombshell
A few months later, their doctor informed them that Audrey was pregnant. Both knew that
Robert was not the father as he had a vasectomy. The problem was that if she gave birth to the
child, that would expose her sin to everyone because the young man she had an affair with was
an African American.

The way they reacted to the news made the doctor realized that something was wrong. He asked
whether they wanted to continue with the pregnancy and without hesitation, both answered in the
affirmative. Since they were good Christians, abortion was not an option.

Audrey was very nervous as she realized that her private sin would now become public. She was
also sure their fragile marriage would now end with a divorce. Thereafter, their relationship
became even more strained than ever before.

In desperation, Audrey told her parents what she had done. They were in total shock when they
heard it. They wondered whether Robert would leave her. Her father encouraged her by telling
her that committing adultery was something she did, not who she was.

In spite of this, Audrey did not think she had the strength to go forward with the pregnancy.
Without telling Robert, she called an abortion clinic and she was told the clinic could send her 10
pills that would take care of the problem.

Audrey hung up the phone before the conversation ended. She did not want to go that route. She
fell on her knees and begged God to give her a miscarriage so that people would not find out
about her infidelity. God did not answer her prayers.

Robert and Audrey resigned from their positions in the church and their television ministry and
moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where Robert’s father lived. They also told their three children what
was going on and promised to stick together as a family.

Their resignations caught people by surprise. Their television ministry went through a tough
period after people learned of Audrey’s pregnancy. Some of the staff, upset by the news,
resigned.

Five months later, Audrey gave birth to a son. Her husband named him Robert Theodore
Meisner. Theodore means “divine gift.” Robert never wanted his new son to ever question whose
son he was. Unlike his siblings, Robert was biracial, but he was loved and embraced by the other
children.

The Breakthrough
Two years after Robert’s birth, Audrey and her husband were still hurting from what they had
gone through. Although they loved their son, they found it very difficult to get over what Audrey
had done. Audrey was still carrying the grief of the affair and she hated herself for what she had
done. She was living in shame while Robert still had anger and resentment. Although they had
forgiven each other, they had never received healing as their wounds were still festering.

Their supernatural breakthrough came about two years after the birth of Robert. Audrey and her
husband met a couple at her parents’ home and asked them to pray for her. As they were praying,
God revealed to them that Audrey had acute grief locked into her. They wanted to know how that
had come about. Audrey told them everything.

When they prayed for her, it seemed as if prison doors opened and she walked free of grief. As
they prayed, she also had a vision in which she saw herself clothed in a robe of righteousness.
Jesus asked her whether she was willing to see herself as he saw her. When she said yes, her
cloak of shame dropped off her.

The couple next turned to her husband and told him they could sense that he had issues of
unforgiveness and he was not yet ready to forgive. He agreed and they did not pray for him that
night. But on the evening of the next day, he asked the couple to pray for him. When they did,

he, too, had his own supernatural breakthrough and the burden of unforgiveness was lifted from
him.

Life Thereafter
What seemed like the end for Robert and Audrey’s marriage turned out to be a new beginning
for them. Twelve years later, their marriage is stronger than ever because of being honest to each
other. Their relationship is on a new level of transparency and there is no room for any secrets.
They no longer take each other for granted. They also love their little Robert and their other three
older children also love him.

Robert and Audrey now travel all over the world sharing their powerful testimony of love,
failure, forgiveness and redemption at churches and marriage conferences. They also host a daily
one-hour Christian television show based in Winnipeg, Canada. They have also published their
story in a book.

It would have been very easy for the Meisners to get a divorce but they avoided that route. Their
story demonstrates the power of forgiveness among people who have been forgiven their sins.
Lack of forgiveness leads to divorce. We must always remember how much God has forgiven us
before we refuse to forgive others. If God could forgive us so much, why is it impossible to
forgive others so little?