Divorce • Devotion 3

Ray of Hope
Adam Moore

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Mathew 5:31-32

There are fewer things in life that I have been as passionate about as the topic of divorce. It is amazing how God will use different circumstances to make and mold you. Two years after my wife and I were married, we found ourselves venturing down the all-too-common path of divorce. For the sake of time, I cannot get into all the details, but it is safe to say that as two professing Christians we nearly let the devil destroy us and the outcome of our lives would have been very different today. As we continued down the road to divorce, I remember feeling so broken! If only someone knew what I was going through that could offer a glimmer or a ray of hope. It seemed like nothing could ease the pain that my broken heart was going through, and my life was in shambles. I was a young father of a 10-month-old boy, owned my first home, married the woman of my dreams, and now it was all crashing down! Why? Why, was this happening to me, God? Chances are, if you are reading this, then it is likely that you have asked God this same question before, “Why?”

Most of the time we do not know or understand why we are going through the things that we are experiencing. I know at this very dark and trying juncture in my life, I could not tell you why my world was seemingly burning down. I think of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:12, when he says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

We often go through things in this life that we may not find out the reasoning “why” until we get to Heaven. God has a plan for our lives, and we just need to trust Him. The last statistic I read said that 50% of all first marriages will end in divorce, and it is even higher on second and third marriages. The enemy is out to destroy the marriage and the home like never before. He knows that his time is short, and the marriage institution in and of itself, is a divine picture of the Gospel.

When it looked like my marriage was gone, and that all hope had been lost, God showed up! On the final day of our divorce proceedings, my wife and I looked at each other and walked out of the courtroom that day together never looking back! Two more children and 15 years later, God used my brokenness to jump-start DivorceCare at The River Church. Some of the most precious people I have ever met in my life entered through the doors of DivorceCare, and if it took God breaking me to make this happen, then I say, “Thank you, Jesus!”

If your marriage is struggling, then seek help immediately before it gets destroyed. If you are already divorced, then know that God’s mercy is real and that He loves you no matter what! Your life has a purpose, and Jesus can fill any void.