I went to bed last night brokenhearted.
For a whole host of reasons, I can’t give details as to why I’m brokenhearted. It’s a combination of factors, which are primarily out of my hands. It’s grief compounded upon grief, and it’s not because of something I’ve done personally. Rather, it’s an awareness of what sin does.
This morning I awoke just as brokenhearted as I was at bedtime. I turned to God for comfort, direction, and wisdom. And as He’s prone to do – boom! He served up just exactly what I needed. That’s the way He rolls.
It all sprang from a verse in Isaiah – Isaiah 57:15, to be exact. This verse just cried out to be unpacked, and here’s my takeaways.
The question for us today is simple: Is your heart hurting today?
Check this out, from the New Living Translation:
The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.”
It’s acceptable and encouraged to do the whole “breathe in, breathe out” routine while reading this and evaluating the state of your heart right now. As you wade into this, understand that feeling the presence of God in this very moment is what is called for.
Look. I don’t know of anyone who would willingly choose to experience a broken heart. The jaw-dropping reality, and what all my ponderings today hinge on, is that Jesus willingly suffered and died in our place so that He could reign as high priest in heaven.
He knows just exactly what it’s like to be brokenhearted. He’s been there. Isn’t that something?
The implications are huge.
What this means is that you can cry in His embrace, as a hurtin’ puppy, and know that if you’re brokenhearted He catches every tear.
One handicap we have, though, is that it’s easy and tempting to ignore the pain of a broken heart. You know, just soldier on, eyes fixed ahead, unbowed and determined. That sounds noble, but it’s not really a good idea, especially if you want to be authentic.
See, there’s a healing process when you bring your brokenheartedness to Jesus, and it’s a necessity for spiritual health, growth, and comfort.
Jesus is ready to comfort you, and it’s personally bewildering as to why I don’t lean into Him when I’m hurting.
There is a blessing that comes from pain. I know, right? That’s counterintuitive. Still, it’s that crystalline hurt that pushes us toward God and we experience His love in a way we simply can’t otherwise. It’s a blessing for those of us who are brokenhearted.
It’s actually kind of crazy, in a good way. If we let ourselves hold back and try to nurse our own wounds, we stifle that supernatural healing and restoration He wants us to experience. We just can’t let that hurt keep us from drawing close to Him.
He wants us to pour out our pain to Him so that His words can be balm to our souls.
I’m amazed, even after all these years of walking with God, that He sent Jesus to die for me. This is so fundamental, so basic, and yet we in our familiarity skate right past the most profound truth imaginable.
Our requests to God might include:
- Give me courage to walk through this painful valley. There is a purpose to me being here.
- I want to hear Your voice – a whisper is fine, but if You need to holler to get my attention, that’s fine too.
- Reveal Your heart to me. I thought I could discern it when things were going well, but apparently You’ve had to get out the big guns.
- I believe You’re preparing a good and right path for me, but that doesn’t mean it’s all flat ground and no rocks.
- Don’t let me pull away from You in my grief and suffering. My mouth wants to say “whatever it takes,” but I tend to choke on those words. I’ll need some help with this one.
- Remind me of Your love and compassion. It’s so easy for me to forget those basics.
I don’t know how you visualize God – what your mental image of Him is. It’s different for everyone. It’ll be helpful if you could do that, even right now. Just soak in that sweet space.
Remind yourself that God loves you unconditionally. He’s totally faithful.
There may be some things in your heart that need to be cleaned out – things that are hampering that blessing that will ease your brokenhearted spirit. Even in times of pain and brokenness you’re still blessed.
God doesn’t want you to deny your pain. If you’re brokenhearted, He wants you to draw near to Him with no holds barred.
Check out Isaiah 57:15 in the English Standard Version:
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
More good stuff: Because God knows all the details of your broken heart, and when you cry He’s right there saving your tears, you are not alone in your brokenness. What a gift that is! He understands your situation completely and is standing by your side through it all.
And here’s a monster truth, to make things even sweeter: There is a gift of hope from Jesus that He can lift your spirit again, just as He rose again after and during the heartbreak of the Cross. Brokenhearted? Claim this.
Let’s do Isaiah 57:15 one more time, this time from the Amplified Bible:
For the high and exalted One, He who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy says this, “I dwell on the high and holy place, but also with the contrite and humble in spirit In order to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite [overcome with sorrow for sin].”
That last phrase really captures what it means to be contrite – overcome with sorrow for sin.
This version talks about sorrow over sin. Is that not often the cause of us being brokenhearted? This can be a scary thought.
It may be that the last time you were brokenhearted was simply because of your own personal sin. Through that, God showed you more about Himself through your brokenness. He doesn’t want you to just know facts about Him. He wants to draw you really close, and conviction of sin can absolutely take you to that place of intimacy.
He doesn’t fail you. He doesn’t leave you or forsake you. But He will absolutely use brokenheartedness to make us right.
If there’s something about pain you need to know, it’s this: God will take you into a deeper relationship with Him than you can imagine, but it’ll hurt in the process. You’ll be brokenhearted. So instead of running from the pain, you lean into it, take it to God (and don’t try to excuse or sugarcoat it), and every single time He’ll bring depths of beauty out of it.
Jesus endured pain so that we could have a relationship with Him. Do this:
- Ask Him to comfort and heal your heart. Now.
- Ask Him to remove anything you’ve done wrong.
- Ask Him to let you experience His nearness in a fresh way.
- Ask Him to restore your peace, joy, and hope.
If the pain in your heart throbs again and you find yourself brokenhearted, remind yourself of this simple truth: God is near.
Talk later.