Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” —Matthew 19:26

Going through a bitter divorce is not a fun adventure at all…it’s actually gut wrenching and heartbreaking.

Let me set the the scene here.

I was in the dark valley of divorce. Lost my home, couldn’t see my kids everyday, lived on a basement floor with a sleeping bag at a friends house, the temporary court order and the legal fees were crushing me. I was not in a good place at all.

I was emotionally, mentally and spiritually crippled and I was ready to give up! Perspective is easy when everything in life is going good, but no so easy when everything around you is crumbling. All I could think about was the failure of my marriage, the anger raging inside of me and the crippling thought of how I was going run this race.

Hebrews 12:1 felt like nothing more than a one dimensional bumper sticker on my Christian faith.

I felt so alone!

This is where this excerpt from my book Heartstone picks up…

The next day on my way to work, still frustrated, I popped in a CD and listened to a message called “Resting in Father’s Embrace” from Jack Frost of Shiloh Place Ministries, hoping for a distraction from my long commute. It didn’t take very long into the message to for my eyes to well up with tears. What captured my attention was the narrative of Dick and Rick Hoyt. The story begins in the spring of 1977, where Rick Hoyt, who was a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, shared with his dad that he wanted to take part in a five-mile race. Dick Hoyt, who was not even close to being a long-distance runner agreed. He ran behind his son pushing him in his wheelchair finishing the race next to last. The real victory was what Rick told his father that night, “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.” Wow!

Rick Hoyt was set free of his handicap that day, while I was letting the failure of my marriage and growing anger handicap me. I had to win. I had to be right. I lost sight. God used this story to show me that I didn’t have to win or to be right…I’m learning that it’s so much easier to run into the headwinds of life when I ask God to run the race with me than going it alone. As my perspective started changing, it happens…I look down at the water’s surface and begin to see the faint reflection of my Heavenly Father. What is really happening here? God is telling me that I have what it takes and that I am adored. This is played out in a snippet from the movie, The Matrix…check it out.

Trinity: What is he doing?!
Morpheus: He’s beginning to believe…

Now I can say to my heavenly Father, “Dad, when I’m running with You, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnhDyc7AZ5U

The next time you think it is all over for you, leave room for God. In a devotional from Pastor Greg Laurie I read about elderly minister who liked to visit people in hospitals. He would say this to people, “Many times as we look at what God is doing, we just see tangled threads with no rhyme or reason. But from God’s perspective, He is dealing with us in love, and He knows what He is doing.”

Am I comparing my life to Rick Hoyt’s? No, I am thankful to God that I can walk and that I am physically healthy. I am using the power of this story to emphasis the importance of a Father’s love! Many of us never experience the relationship that Rick Hoyt does with his dad and for those that haven’t experienced this relationship with their earthly father, God can fill that void if you let Him.

Was the race ahead of me easy? No…it felt like a triathlon, but when I’m running with God, it feels like I’m not handicapped anymore.

Despite your circumstances, do you have the courage to run with God?