…when our hearts hurt….

Originally posted on 12 March, 2014 by admin

Sometimes we are hurting – hurting badly. There are pains of the heart that we can hardly talk about. In the words of Asaph, Psalm 77:4 “….I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” Have you been there? Sometimes we feel all alone in our pain. There is no one to understand. We’ve been abandoned. Proverbs 15:13b “….by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken”.

My sister, take heart. The Lord Jesus does understand. He has been there, too. He is described in Isaiah 53:3 “…a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”. He says in Mark 14:34, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death.” In fact, He has been deeper into grief than we can ever know. Imagine that. As deep as your grief may be, His was deeper still – Isaiah 53:4 “surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…” We may feel forgotten by God – Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?” – His very words on the cross. He understands.

Knowing this, will it diminish your pain? No, not really. Pain is pain. (Sometimes, I think the real “Problem with Pain” is that it hurts so much!) Of course we wish that the pain would stop but sometimes it’s going to be around for a while – sometimes it feels like it will be there forever. When we are grieving because we’ve lost someone….we can’t just stop the pain – it comes because of the great loss – What we really need is courage to bear it. Where can we get courage? From our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ who understands.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities…” He is not cold and untouchable. He knows how we feel. He understands. What gave Him courage to bear the pain? – Hebrews 12:2 “Who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” What joy was set before Him? It was you! He went to the cross and endured it for you!

There is a time to weep and there is value to our tears. Think of Hannah – I Sam 1:10 “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.”  She took her tears to the Lord. When someone you love is hurting, wouldn’t you rather that they cried on your shoulder than that they turn away and cry alone. Take your tears to the Lord. Weep on His shoulder. Hannah was never rebuked by the Lord for her tears. Her husband – who loved her – didn’t understand. He wanted her to stop crying – to feel better. There is no one who can fully understand our sorrows except the Lord. Psalm 56:8 “Put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book!” The Lord not only has numbered the hairs of our head, He also has recorded every tear. He sees the sparrows fall … “Ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matt. 10:29-31)

He knows. He understands and He cares – more than we can comprehend.

Where is the Lord when we hurt? Right beside us. Psalm 34 “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. Psalm 147:3 “He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds.” Luke 4:18 The Lord Jesus was sent “to heal the broken hearted.”

When Mary Magdalene was at the tomb on resurrection morning, two angels – angels! – asked her “Woman, why weepest thou?” – yet she was not comforted by the angels. She turned away and saw the Lord. At first, through her grief and tears, she didn’t recognize Him. He asked the same question “Why weepest thou?” You can tell Him. Mary told Him and He answered with her name.

The Lord calls your name through your pain as well. Sometimes like Mary, you won’t see Him at first but listen for His voice. He knows your name and speaks it in eternal, infinite love.

Sometimes, when we are hurting, we don’t want to hear “All things work together for good to them that love God” (Rom. 8:28)…but it is in The Book. Think about the principle that God has a purpose for what He does and what He allows.

Even while we experience pain, think about someone you love – perhaps a sister, a child, a daughter, a parent. In this fallen world, they too will come to times of great trial. Now, consider II Cor. 1:3,4 “Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God.” When those you love come to their time of trial, don’t you long to be able to be used by God to comfort them! If God asked you to go through this trial so that you’d be equipped to help someone you love….to help them experience the love of God in the midst of their pain, wouldn’t you say, “Yes, Lord!”

Courage, my sister! God can take your pain and use it for His glory and your best good. Job 23:10 “But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

It will be worth it all – when we see Jesus! Life’s trials will seem so small – when we see Him – One look at His dear face – All sorrows will erase  – So gladly run the race – Til we see Christ. – Esther Kerr Rusthoi

(I always like to end with a song.)