As the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa TerKeurst has made a name for herself as a role model for godly women and a champion for strong marriages. Thus, many of her loyal followers were startled at the divorce announcement she posted on her blog this Tuesday.
“I so wish we were sitting face-to-face so you could see my tears and hear the deep grief in my voice as I share this with you,” Lysa opened in the soul-baring entry titled “Rejection, Heartache, and a Faithful God.”
She cited her husband Art’s repeated infidelity and substance abuse for the demise of their nearly 25-year marriage:
“My husband, life partner and father of my children, Art TerKeurst, has been repeatedly unfaithful to me with a woman he met online, bringing an end to our marriage of almost 25 years. For the past couple of years, his life has sadly been defined by his affection for this other woman and substance abuse. I don’t share this to harm or embarrass him, but to help explain why I have decided to separate from him and pursue a divorce.”
After facing what she has called the “hardest battle of [her] life” to save her marriage over the last two years, Lysa shared that God has revealed she has done all she can and “must release him to the Savior.”
Though tempted to take the startling blow as personal failure, the prolific author and speaker has decided to put into practice what she preaches through surrender and trusting that God’s redemptive ways are higher.