When You're Feeling Heart Broken

It's February. Hallmark's "love month". Maybe you've been seeing more declarations of love, perfectly curated happy moments in people's lives or...

It's February. Hallmark's "love month".  Maybe you've been seeing more declarations of love, perfectly curated happy moments in people's lives or the ideal love stories.

And for you, that's highlighting the exact opposite.  It's emphasizing the broken heart you've been struggling with.  Whether it's from a broken relationship, the challenge of singleness or the lie that you believe - that you are not loveable.

I understand being broken-hearted and crushed in spirit.  I understand despair.  I walked a long time under the crushing lie that I was unlovable because of my past trauma and my battle with mental illness.  

And Jesus understands too.

Jesus lived a sinless but FULLY human life.  He understands what it feels like to be heartbroken.  He sees you in your pain and offers you this hope found in Psalm 34:18:

"The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

If I could encourage you today, it would be to look for the evidence of God's closeness in your pain - because it's there.  He's promised to to be close to us and he is a God of kept promises.

Often in our grief and despair we become so focused on our pain, on our circumstance, that we miss out on the closeness of God.

In the midst of hard times that closeness brings us God's peace.  A peace that surpasses understanding.  A peace that Paul describes to the Philippians "will keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus."

Yes, God sees you in your heartbreak.  But if you let him, he will work all things together for your good.  And in my personal experience that good thing that has been born out of my hard thing has been increased reliance on the transformative and healing power of Christ Jesus.

He is close to you in your broken heartedness.  He will save you from your crushed spirit.

He is a God of restoration and he will accomplish that in your life.

So in this love month, can I urge you to cling to the greatest love of all - the greatest love story of all - Jesus.  The one who loves you so much that he willingly gave up his seat in heaven to come here to earth to die for you.