Matchmaking God brought true love after prophetic dreams
By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
LAGUNA BEACH, CA (ANS - September 26, 2016)
-- A hideous violation by her second husband left her wondering if she
could every trust a man again. Then her best friend died from cancer,
and a series of prophetic words and dreams opened her heart to love
again.
Originally
from Canada, Elizabeth Coll moved to California with her daughter and
second husband. “What we went through in our first year (of marriage)
brought me to the end of myself,” Elizabeth says. A strong Christian,
she had always pointed to her blessed circumstances to show others the
greatness and love of God.
But
then she faced the ultimate betrayal by her new husband. “It was
horrible, the circumstances couldn’t look any worse. He appeared to be a
strong Christian, but he was a sociopath hiding in the church,” she
says.
“One day I thought I had a great man who loved the Lord and loved me. But I was married to a monster.”
Years
earlier, Elizabeth was distraught after her first marriage fell apart.
“I never wanted to be divorced,” she says. “I went through a huge
journey with God over that.”
A
Christian counselor thought she was ready to marry again, and she went
into the second marriage cautiously. “I looked for red flags. He had two
amazing sons.” Everything looked right on the surface, until disaster
struck.
“He was a predator,” she says. “He doesn’t have a conscience. It was the worst thing I could imagine.”
The violation rocked her faith and left her wondering what to believe. Could God even use this for good? she wondered.
“I felt betrayed by the whole church. To trust other Christians again would be a miracle,” she felt.
Elizabeth
found a small church in Laguna Beach, California known as Church by the
Sea, which she found to be a healing place. Slowly, God began to fill
Elizabeth’s heart with peace and contentment. “I would get up each day
and God would show me what to do and how to do it. I would be on my face
at night. He would give me what I needed,” she recounts.
In
the midst of Elizabeth’s journey toward healing and wholeness, her best
friend Karen was stricken with terminal cancer. “She was the first
person who loved me with the love of Christ. I shared with her the
things I kept secret. She was so loving and kind. She shaped my
Christian walk.”
Karen
had been her soul mate as the marriage fell apart. “She knew everything
that happened. She walked through it with me,” Elizabeth says.
In
their last conversation before Karen passed into the arms of the Lord,
she said something to Elizabeth that caught her off guard: “I want you
to promise me you won’t shut your heart down. God has a lovely man for
you who you will be able to trust.”
“Okay,
I promise,” Elizabeth said half-heartedly. At that moment, she couldn’t
imagine trusting a man and allowing him into her life.
About nine months after Karen’s passing, she had a God-inspired dream that left her wondering.
In
the dream, she found herself standing on a pier in California. It was a
place she had never seen before. “I was standing near a railing, with
my hands on the railing. I looked down at the dark blue water,” she
said.
Inadvertently, her keys slipped out of her hands and fell into the water. What am I going to do? she wondered.
Photo captions: 1) Elizabeth Coll. 2) Elizabeth with her friend Karen. 3) Elizabeth and Marc. 4) Mark Ellis.
About the writer: Mark Ellis is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), and also founder of www.GodReports.com,
a website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church
around the world. He is also co-host for “Widows on the World” with ANS
Founder, Dan Wooding, which is aired weekly on the Holy Spirit
Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv).
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