Partner BetrayalSýnishorn

Encountering the laceration in your heart that sexual partner betrayal evoked upon you exposes bleeding wounds of abandonment and betrayal. This excruciating experience and its aftereffects produce an injury that, if not healed, can infect your heart with resentment, bitterness, and anger.

Abandonment happens when a severed attachment abruptly removes you from a lifeline of love and leaves a bleeding wound. Jesus felt abandoned by God as He died on the cross. Jesus had this deep intimacy with God. Even our God in the flesh cried out the words written in Mark 15:34. As he died, Jesus bore the heaviness of all our sins. And at that moment, when sin could not exist in the presence of God, He experienced abandonment. His lament speaks of this reality and relates to how we feel in the anguish of abandonment. The Bible is full of examples of people who felt abandoned and betrayed. Look at the lives of Joseph, Paul, David, and Job. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me," because He understands and can provide us with the ultimate source of comfort.

Healing the wounds of partner betrayal can seem like no path forward. Calamity and chaos seem to encircle. These deep wounds can taint our past, present, and future.

A sheep without a shepherd will stray away, get lost, and eventually suffer. When they are away from their shepherd's leading, sheep are skittish, wander independently, and make ridiculous decisions. The design of God as the Shepherd of His people revealed in the Bible portrays Him as a caretaker, protector, and comforter. Scripture references the Lord being our Shepherd because we as people tend to carry many of the same characteristics of sheep. A good shepherd provides care, compassion, and counsel for his sheep. In John 10:11, we read that Jesus our Good Shepherd gives up His life for His sheep.

We have a Good Shepherd who promises to love us and accompany us even in the pain and heartbreak of betrayal. He's the one who is our comfort, care, compassion, and counsel.

Exhaustion implodes our bodies physically, emotionally, and mentally from the effects of betrayal. It feels like time clicks by from moment to moment, but our present reality feels anything but natural. The excruciating pain of intimate partner betrayal causes us to lose hope.

Jesus wants to meet you in your pain and where you are right now to walk along this road of healing. When He asks, "Do you want to get well?" it is a request to you to take His hand and let Him comfort and care for your heart. The Father is our protection, Jesus our companion and friend, and Holy Spirit our living comforter. I want to encourage you today that God will not abandon you. You have a protector, friend, and comforter who loves you dearly.

Take a few minutes to experience God's care, comfort and compassion:

1. The enemy's ultimate plan is for us to abandon God. When surrounded by all the unwanted feelings of abandonment, what does trusting God as my Shepard look like?

2. How does it make me feel to know that God will never abandon me?