Divorce Recovery and the Holidays
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When someone is going through divorce and is trying to find spiritual and emotional support and is trying to struggle to some level of recovery, oftentimes our most treasured beliefs are challenged. I believed marriage was forever. I believed in “for better or for worse.” I believed that keeping promises was important. And, I believed my wasband believed all those things, too. When my divorce happened, not only was I trying to just stay afloat physically and emotionally, I was trying to figure out if there was anything I could really believe in. As a Christian, I cannot remember a time I did not believe that there is a God even though I went through serious times of doubt and question about his nature and involvement in real life. Even though God did not seem to be keeping his promises to me during some parts of my divorce, I still believed in the mystery and majesty of a loving, caring God. I struggled with verses like the one from Psalms that says, “If we trust and obey God he will give us the desires of our heart.” I wanted nothing more than to have a bright, shining marriage. That was a problem for me. But I have slowly come to believe that the desires of our heart must be to accept God’s purposes for us and then believe that when we do that, we will receive blessings and joy and fulfillment abundant and overflowing. In the beginning of my journey, I didn’t really think that was possible if my divorce became reality. As Tony Woodlief wrote in his article in the Wall Street Journal this morning, “believing involves the magical and the mysterious.” That includes believing water was turned to wine and the seas were parted for the Israelites and God came to earth in the flesh as a baby laid in a manger. From eight years past my divorce I want to tell you that God is still in the mystery business. From the despair of divorce, he has led me to a new life that has been nothing short of miraculous. He has used me for his purposes way beyond what I could have imagined and he has given me a level of joy and adventure I would not have thought possible in those dark days of divorce. I want you to understand that’s possible for you too. Mr. Woodlief’s article this morning was entitled “OK Virginia, There’s No Santa Claus, But There Is God.” Believe that truth as you make your way through these sometimes-devastating days of your divorce. Even though you may find yourself in a dark, cold night right now, a magical new morning is about to break.
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