It pays to have close friends to talk to, but it’s also a wonderful comfort to have a close personal relationship with God so that you can say, "God, help me, hear me, feel my pain!"

If the abandonment has been unexpected, your self-image may be smashed. Your life may have been centered primarily around your mate, children and home, and initially you will feel a massive attack on your selfhood.

In this critical moment, within the core of your being, you need to hear God speaking to you as he spoke to Joshua: "I will be with you just as I was with Moses; I will not abandon you or fail to help you" (Joshua 1:5).

You need the same calming assurance as when God said to the nation of Israel, "Don’t be afraid, for I have ransomed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up--the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, your Savior" (Isaiah 43:1-3).

The words of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit inside your mind will help you to keep focused on reality. And part of that reality is that you are a child of God. He loves and understands you, and is with you in the middle of this mess.

We urge you to continually picture yourself moving toward the wisdom recorded in Psalm 112, which says that the person who trusts God "does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him" (Psalm 112:7).

As you become more convinced that God will take care of you, even though bad news items continue to jolt you, you will have a deep, quiet settledness--because you are trusting that God will take care of you.