Today concludes a series of 7 daily posts that will allow you to Survive and Thrive in your divorce recovery process. It will be available on the YouVersion Bible App eventually, but I wanted to share it with all of you first. May it be the blessing I pray it needs to be for you.

As we wrap up this series, I want to encourage you to do one of the hardest things you will ever have to do in your life. Please, I am begging you to do this one thing….

TAKE THE HIGH ROAD!!!!

The other party is God’s responsibility now. Turn whatever ill feelings you have towards them into prayer for them to God. Pray that they grow a brain, or get saved, or whatever you feel led to pray. Give them to God.

Your children (if you have them) will always have you both as mom and dad. Nothing will change that. You will just not be together, but they need you both to be mom and dad to them the rest of their lives. It may be tough and it may never get better, but realize this and it will help everyone involved.

Do everything in your power to maintain God’s protection, wisdom, and lifestyle in them. When they are not with you, pray for them. God can protect them way better than you can.

Be the parent that loves and cares for them through God’s wisdom. You don’t have to be mean to be strong. Just know that your children are watching. They are smarter than you think. They know right from wrong, and they know if you are doing all you can to be respectful in all your actions.

Taking the high road means turning it all over to God and letting Him direct your every thought, word, and deed. Pray that you can show the love of Christ in all situations. Be the adult in the room.

Seeing you taking the high road will show all those around you that Christ is working and living inside of you. It is a testimony to His goodness. He died for you. Can you take the high road for the good of everyone involved?

Pray today that you will have the strength and courage to treat the other person like God wants you to treat them.

Colossians 3:12-13

¹² So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Matthew 7:12

¹² “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Psalms 15

Today continues a series of 7 daily posts that will allow you to Survive and Thrive in your divorce recovery process. It will be available on the YouVersion Bible App eventually, but I wanted to share it with all of you first. May it be the blessing I pray it needs to be for you.

I loved playing cards when I was young. I can remember playing my dad and beating him not long after he showed me a game. I guess that was when he decided to teach me a new game. He didn’t want me to beat him any more.

Does it seem like you’ve been dealt a bad hand of cards? It seems sometimes all you get are jokers and they are not even wild. When you thought you had a great hand, something happens. You play your cards and you still lose.

Truth is you are dealt some cards, and it is your job to play them to the best of your ability. A professional poker player can play horrible hands and make millions. It is all about how you play the cards that you hold right now.

In poker, you play until you run out of money or chips. Depending on how you manage your stack, you could play so many hands you will lose count. But what happens when you run out of chips?

Describing life and the ‘bad hands’ we get dealt in poker terms is easy. Yet, God wants you to know that you get many hands, many chances to learn, many opportunities to gain wisdom through the good times and the bad. Our job is to learn from them and not run out of chips.

I see our breath being the chips. We may get so close to 0 you play scared, and you play differently when you have a lot of breath (life) left. Sometimes you go ‘all-in’ and get down to your last breath.

If you run out of chips, guess what happens? God will give you His breath (chips) if you ask Him. He will keep you in the game with another hand, another chance to hit the jackpot.

Don’t think the only hand you get in life is the one you are holding. Play it the best you can and get ready for the next hand.

2 Timothy 2:15

¹⁵ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

1 Corinthians 9:24

²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

1 Kings 17:14

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’”

Today continues a series of 7 daily posts that will allow you to Survive and Thrive in your divorce recovery process. It will be available on the YouVersion Bible App eventually, but I wanted to share it with all of you first. May it be the blessing I pray it needs to be for you.

Family and friends mean well. Odds are they have been affected by divorce in some way, possibly going through it as well. But, your situation is as unique as you are.

It amazes me how many people will say “just get back in the saddle” and “I knew they were not good for you since the beginning”. Really, Professor? How do you know my situation? How many of my tears have you wiped away for me?

I know that friends and family can comfort you, but sometimes they lack real Godly wisdom that will give you the help you desperately need.

How many are willing to drag you to the bar or hook you up with their friend, but are unwilling to sit and pray with you? If another divorced person is helping you celebrate your divorce like you won the Super Bowl, that is a problem.

Especially at this time, don’t let others drag you down. Seek God and allow Him to bring you up to all He has for you. Pray, read His Word, and get rooted in a bible-preaching local church.

You need a counselor, pastor, or mentor outside of your family and friend network that can be brutally honest and impartial to help you process what is going on. I believe that your family and others need to be there to comfort and support you, but limit the advice you accept unless it is Godly wisdom brought forth in real love and truth.

Seek a divorce recovery group, like DivorceCare, that will allow you to meet others that are working through the process like you. The leaders will be a resource of understanding and wisdom that you can lean on, being impartial and up front with you. You can help others as they help you in a group setting. It allows you to help understand your specific situation.

Let your family be your family. Let your friends be your friends. Let your pastors, counselors, and group leaders be your wisdom providers. Let God fill in the gaps.

Proverbs 18:24

Today continues a series of 7 daily posts that will allow you to Survive and Thrive in your divorce recovery process. It will be available on the YouVersion Bible App eventually, but I wanted to share it with all of you first. May it be the blessing I pray it needs to be for you.

God gave me a very specific word when I was starting my healing process. It has stuck with me all these years and I have shared it with so many people. It is what allowed me to get up off the floor.

“Jesus and I are movin’ on!!

To me that day, it gave me the assurance that God was with me and for me in this time. It hurt so bad, but just those six words have carried me through so many rough spots.

The greatest revelation to me in those words were that no matter what, I was going to be ok. God is going to go forth with me as I moved forward.

It spoke to action. It spoke to His love for me. It spoke of a future.

Do you see yourself stuck right now? Do you question whether there is something more waiting for you to move towards?

I know first hand that God can restore you to a greater life. I have experienced the depth of God’s love like never before by trusting in Him to carry me through my hard times.

There is always hope when you look to Jesus. There is always a God who wants to lift you up and hold your hand as He walks with you.

It also spoke to moving, or a changing of location. Of course, people end up moving out of their home and to a new location during divorce. It is more than that. It is talking about a change of scenery, a new outlook, and a new way of looking at things.

This is the time you need to move on from destructive thoughts and behaviors. It is the time to move past accusations, pain, and fear.. It is time to move into a greater relationship with God and to move into all He still has for you.

Don’t waste your life not healing by just existing. Get movin’!!

Jeremiah 29:11

¹¹ For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Philippians 3:13

¹³ Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

Psalm 23:4