just a year ago this april, i was in israel with a group of friends.  the trip was organized by emelie and craig weirda, who i was blessed to meet four years ago through kathie lee and frank gifford.  those two couples were very pinnacle in my healing from divorce. they organized our trip to israel a year in advance. i had prayed and asked God to release me  before the “pilgrimage”  to israel.  my divorce was finalized three days before we left for Israel. only He could have orchestrated that timing.

our teacher, ray vanderlaan, was giving us an incredible sermon at the palace where paul was imprisoned in cesaerea  for preaching the gospel in synagogues. i looked down and there was this little stone in the shape of a heart. God spoke to me as i bent down to pick the stone up, “I will heal your heart”.

a year later i can truly say He did heal my heart. but in order for Him to be able to heal me, i had to immerse myself in Him so i didn’t spend my days concentrating on what i had “lost”  and the messy circumstances of the divorce. God kept saying to me, “I am you source, I am your healer, I am your protector, I am your provider, I am the husband to the husband less. don’t look to man for those things, look to ME”

i had a hard time getting myself to sit and concentrate on reading The Word during those dark days. so instead, i would podcast sermons from great men of God and download worship music and spent hours a day with The Lord. when i turned to Him, the floodgates were opened for God to restore my life. as i worshipped The Lord “when i abased or abounded”, He not only healed my heart, He restored my joy, and what i thought i had lost.

“count it all joy when you encounter trials and tribulations. for the testing of your faith produces endurance” James 1:2-3

may God also heal your heart as you surrender your life to Him.