I used to think that I’d never have to experience the pain of breaking up. It was simple: I would wait for the one God has called for me to be with. And I thought I’d found him. He was a Christian. We knew each other since we were toddlers. Our parents were good friends. He possessed many of the qualities I was looking for in a future husband. Soon after we began “talking,” we dove into a relationship.
Although I wasn’t 100% sure that he was my future husband, I took the risk. We figured God was orchestrating our relationship, considering that we were both Christians and had such an attraction for each other. We did devotions together. We prayed together. And, after less than a year of being together, we discussed the possibility of getting engaged.
However, things started to go downhill from there. Even though we both loved each other, there was no denying that things just weren’t going according to God’s will. Ever since I was in middle school, I’d dreamt of a God-written love story—but for some reason, it felt as if we were the ones who were writing it. We had acted on our fleeting feelings and mistaken our own desires as God’s will.
When we follow our heart rather than God’s timing and enter a relationship that He didn’t plan for us, it most likely will end in heartbreak. I used to think it was impossible to fall in love with someone God didn’t intend for me to be with, but I was soon proven wrong.
A couple months before our 2-year-anniversary, I knew I had to break up with him. I hadn’t had peace about our relationship in a very long time—and the more I prayed about it, the more I knew it was what God wanted me to do. Of course, my ex and I were both devastated—but in the end, I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
I knew I had done the right thing. However, that doesn’t mean the break up hurt any less. He was, after all, my best friend. We thought we’d spend the rest of our lives together. But I knew I could trust God. So rather than mourning over the broken relationship, I placed my heart in God’s hands, knowing that only He had the power to heal it.
And that’s exactly what He did. Psalm 30:5 (NCV) states that, “Crying may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” God has restored my pain into joy. Rather than looking behind me, He has taught me to look ahead with gladness.
Be sure to continue reading the ways God has helped me find healing after heartache in part 2 next month.
2 Corinthians 12:9 NCV
But he said to me, ‘My grace is enough for you.
When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you.’
So I am very happy to brag about my weaknesses.
Then Christ’s Power can live in me.
If you’d like to try to avoid the heartache that comes along with breaking up, be careful about who you date. Check out Truth and Advice about Relationships by clicking here.
Oh … breaking up can be agonizing. Any leaving can really do us in, yes? And yet, Someone sees the end from the beginning … and knows what will be best for us … for Him.
I lived through so much heartache through relationships as a young girl. I did not grow up in a Christian home and did not have the guidance of my parents while dating. I am thanking I get to set an example for my children in this area. Thanks for linking up to The Weekend Brew!