14 May 2010

brokenhearted...


Is it possible to have a broken heart and a whole spirit?

This is the thought that came to me in the early hours of this morning as I considered the myriad of challenges confronting me. It has been two years and seven months since my employment ended … 2 ½ years without a salary … three children to care for … two mortgages … and a grand total of five interviews from the countless job applications I’ve submitted.

Even so, I woke up thankful this morning – thankful to a loving God who has been right here at my side.

• Thankful for Jehovah-Rophe, my Healer, who has kept me in perfect health for 2.5 years without insurance – even though I was persistently ill and going to the doctor multiple times per month before this journey began
• Thankful for Jehovah-Jireh, my Provider, who has not given me everything I want – but who has been faithful to keep me and my family – supplying us with shelter, food, friends and FAITH!
• Thankful for Jehovah – Rohi, my Shepherd, who takes me by the hand and leads me through the storm
• Thankful for Jehovah-Shalom, my Peace, who has stabilized my spirit – even when my heart is broken and confused by the circumstances of life

And now I have come to this knowledge…

You can have a heart which is shattered in a thousand pieces and still have a spirit which is wholly complete in Christ.

The heart acknowledges everything which is occurring around you. It cannot, in truth, deny those things. Bad things happen and, when they happen, they hurt. The heart cannot help but to feel because that is how God created us … to feel. All throughout Scripture, we see where Jesus was moved with compassion and even wept on occasion.

Yet while the heart aches – and at times breaks – the spirit rejoices!

While the natural heart (the mind, will and emotions) can be broken, the true heart of a person, the spirit, can be whole. The spirit can be at peace because it is tied to the truth of God’s Word, it receives life-giving power from the Holy Spirit, it is covered by the blood of Jesus … it is bound to the heart of God.

Are you brokenhearted today?

There is hope! There is a God who can heal your hurting heart – and make it whole again. Psalm 147:3 says, ‘He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.’

I like the plain speech of the Message Version Bible which states in Psalm 34:18, ‘If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, He'll help you catch your breath.'

How powerful is that!

Yet that was not the most encouraging thing for me this morning. My strength comes from the knowledge that He guards and renews my spirit. And I would rather live with a broken heart than a broken spirit any day…

Understand that, if the spirit is wholly connected to God, wholly complete in God – He can fix every single situation which breaks the heart. There is a comfort in that.

Even as you face heart-breaking situations, God holds your spirit.
• He gives peace in the midst of the storm
• He causes joy to inexplicably well up in the shadow of sorrowful situations
• He provides hope in the middle of, seemingly, hopeless circumstances

God is near to the broken-hearted!

Be encouraged today…

'… I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love do not for a moment escape God's notice.’ Psalm 51:17 MSG

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