One of the hardest truths to accept is that sometimes God answers our prayer for clarity by removing what no longer belongs.

Angel 1: Why did you let this happen to her?

God: Because she wouldn’t have left otherwise.

Angel 2: She’s devastated

God: I know. But being devastated and free is better than being comfortable and stuck.

I’m not punishing her, I’m redirecting her.

-Jacqueline Whitney

Angel 1: Couldn’t you have made it easier?

God: She needed it to hurt enough that she wouldn’t go back. If I’d made it easy, she would’ve convinced herself to stay.

Angel 2: What if she doesn’t recover from this?

God: She will. She’s stronger than she thinks. And on the other side of this heartbreak is the version of herself she’s been praying to become.

Angel 1: When will she understand why this had to happen?

God: Six months from now. She’ll meet someone who actually chooses her. And she’ll look back at this heartbreak and thank me for it.

Angel 2: What does she need right now?

God: To stop trying to make sense of it. To trust that I’m not punishing her, I’m redirecting her. To believe that this ending is making room for a better beginning.

Angel 1: Will she be okay?

God: Better than okay. She’s about to become everything that relationship was preventing her from being.

Jacqueline Whitney is the author Held: A 50 Day Devotional For Parents and All That You Deserve.