Are you hurting? God has something to say to you.

Listen along here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/1a38cfd3/are-you-hurtin...

What do we do with heartache?

Where, O where can we go?

Can a broken heart be healed? 

Does the hurt ever go away? 

And in the meantime, is there a way to keep on living? 

,

Just this instant, I remember a time in my life--I was sitting in church on a Sunday morning, and literally, I thought the person next to me could feel my heart breaking. My pain was so real, so palpable, that I was sure it was a distraction for those near me, so I got up and I left.

Heartache is part of our human condition. We will experience it in lesser or greater ways throughout our lives; of that, I am sure. Whether it is the death of someone near and dear, or betrayal of a loved one … or perhaps something else entirely--perhaps something you could have never seen coming. In this world, heartache is sure to come. Thinking about this, when I prayed this morning, I breathed out, ‘only you can comprehend the depths of our hurt, only you can heal it, and restore our hearts.’ 

'So, Lord, if I were to step into your presence, crippled with hurt, what would you say to me? If I were to carry a dear friend to you, crushed by the heartache of pain in her life, what would you say to her?' 

This is the response I believe we would get from our loving Father:

“I would take her face in my hands, look her in the eyes and say,

'Child, I am with you; you do not walk alone. I know what it is like to bear a burden too heavy to carry. Come to me, and I will give you rest.1

There is nothing that you will face or feel that I have not already experienced,2

so I can help you through your troubled time.

I have noticed how you sometimes think you can live your life without me. You think you are self sufficient and manage most everything by yourself. I appreciate your ‘can do’ attitude, but you see, when that is how you think, then prayer is just a nice little add-on to your daily habits; it is not your life’s breath. hmmm. It is not what gets you through.

On the other hand, when life gets hard~

when you are unsure how you will go on,

when it feels as though your heart may just break in two,

when you are tired and discouraged,

overwhelmed by circumstances,

certain there are no ready answers…

then, please remember that I, your loving God, never slumber,

and I do not sleep.3 

I am close to the brokenhearted—I promise.4 

In reality, my child, sometimes it is through pain that your heart softens and you look for Me. It is when you cannot reason or talk all things out, find a place to make each thing fit … when you are unable to find neat little boxes or tidy packages in which to tie things up … that you turn your gaze toward Me, and give Me a chance. Sometimes

it is when I am all you have that you realize I am all you need. 

When the disciples were troubled at Jesus' words that he would soon be leaving them, he looked in their eyes and said, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."5 Could you picture Jesus looking in your eyes and offering his peace to you?"

Often in prayer, people try to use 'just the right' words--I understand that, especially if praying in the presence of others, but.... maybe the prayer that is answered more often than any other is just eight words—two words, repeated four times: “Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God!” It is when we come to the end of ourselves, the end of what we are able to manage and control, and turn heavenward, we realize that God is mighty to save, and indeed He alone is able to save.6 As long as SELF is in the way, there is not much room for God to come and move and sometimes even do the miraculous, whether we pray or not. 

Yes, I am certain that when our hearts hurt, God has his greatest opportunity with us. And rather than struggling alone, we can ask God to come and meet us, and heal our brokenness. 

Look to your Father and listen for his voice:

‘You won’t face anything, Child, that I have not, so I understand. Because I knit you together in your mother's womb,7 I also understand you like no one else, including the depth and breadth of your emotion. I’m not just big enough to bear it all, I am also BIGGER than all of it. Outside of time and space, I can rescue you. If you look to me, I will give you what you need—the grace—to make it through one day at a time.8  I love you. I am here. Your Father’

It is my ardent prayer, my friend, that you will long to stay close to the heart of your Father. There is no safer, stronger place to be.

Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbXbvvBH7ck&list=RDjbXbvvBH7ck&a...

Praying for your heart,

Christine

PastorWoman.net

1 – Matthew 11.28

2 – 1 Corinthians 10.13

3 – Psalm 121.4

4 – Psalm 34.18

5 - John 14.27

6 – Zephaniah 3.17

7 – Psalm 139.13

8 - 2 Corinthians 12.9