HOW TO MEND A BROKEN HEART
By Frank Eiklor and Cecilia Contreras
LESSON 27 Part 2
INTRODUCTION
In this material world, everything grows old and disappears. Our favorite toys, homes, cars—anything, everything—breaks or decays and eventually vanishes. Often we just throw something away that needs repair. Perhaps fixing the problem takes two much money, time or effort.
However, what do you do with a broken heart? A broken spirit? Whether that broken heart is yours or belongs to someone you know, you can’t trade it in for another. It must be fixed by the expert on broken hearts—God Himself.
God understands when your heart breaks. He came to heal you. And He often uses others to help heal our broken hearts—and uses us to help heal others. In this lesson—Part 2—we shall begin to discover the healing process (I suggest you take time to review the last lesson, Part 1.)
1. REALIZE THAT GOD HAS BEEN THERE
No one could have had his heart broken more than God as He watched His only Son humiliated and crucified. And no one could have had his heart broken more than a loving and pure Jesus who became our vile sin so that we could share His righteousness (II Corinthians 5:21).
You’ll find Him there with you when tears fill your pillow and no human beings, try as they might, can understand. I recall a little boy who had to go to the school principal’s office because of a problem. The wise principal understood the boy’s turmoil and calmed his fears. When the boy was instructed to return to his classroom, he asked the principal, “Sir, would you walk with me?” Adults are no different from the child in this respect. We need someone to walk with, and God insists on being that special one. But it’s the reason I like to keep my eyes opened and ears tuned to those around me. People with broken hearts need other people to walk with them, too. Psalm 147:3 is beautiful, “He heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds.”
2. DON’T BE AFRAID OF TEARS
No one is more powerful than Jesus Christ, and yet He wept at the death of Lazarus. Secure men can weep. Tears are therapy. In a past lesson, I shared one of my most painful experiences. My mother pleaded with me to rush to Chicago to see her in the hospital. Loved ones meant well and told me that the time was not critical. It turned out that time was very critical, and I only arrived in time to be with my mother before she died. After officiating at this magnificent woman’s memorial service, I was filled with anguish and guilt because I felt that I had failed her. Alone one day, I released my torrent of agony in groans, sobs and bitter tears. Only heaven could listen in and I felt all my guilt being washed away and replaced with the quiet assurance that mother was safe in the arms of Jesus and I looked forward to my joining her one day in heaven. Tears of confession opened the door to great peace and release. The same will be true for you if your heart is broken through guilt at having failed a loved one in a crisis situation or anything else in your past that needs to be cried out to the Lord.
3. EXPERIENCE GOD’S HEALING THROUGH MUSIC
The Holy Spirit often uses music to minister to a broken heart, especially music that reminds us of God’s tender love, mercy, kindness, care and compassionate touch. Sometimes your heart will be so bruised that you feel powerless to obey the admonition, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…” (Ephesians 5:19). When that happens, just listen to music with heaven’s message and heart beat and you’ll begin to sense anew the Lord’s nearness.
The American Indians used to teach their children a lesson in courage by making them spend a night in the forest with the wild animals. It was an experience that few youth welcomed and each entered the forest filled with fears. Through the long hours of the night the boy would wait, anxious for the sun to rise. When dawn came, he would see his father behind a nearby tree with drawn bow. Without his child’s knowledge, the father had been there all night, making sure that no harm came to his son. So it is with God and us and often it is God-inspired music that reduces our fears and helps us realize that our Father is “behind that tree—guarding us.”
4. LIVE IN THE WORD OF GOD
Many people have told me that their single greatest source of strength during unbearable pain was their Bible. That's because only God's Word gives adequate answers in our most intimate pains, screams, doubts or fears. His Word is light invading darkness, hope breaking in on fears, salve covering raw wounds, and promises replacing panic.
How sweet are the words of Psalm 27:1,5, “The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?...For in the day of trouble He shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.”
Have you ever felt like the psalmist who couldn’t understand why God let good people suffer while godless people seemed to prosper and delight in their foolishness. Listen to his complaint, “Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world; they increase in riches” (Psalm 73:12). He even complained that it didn’t pay to be righteous, “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.” (Psalm 73:13,14). But then God went to work on his broken heart, let him see how the wicked live in slippery places (vs. 18) and are suddenly consumed with terror (vs.19). Then he realized the secret to mending a broken heart is realizing the nearness of the invisible Lord, “Nevertheless I am continually with you: you have held me by my right hand. You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” (Psalm 73:23-25)
See how the Word of God begins mending a broken heart and stitching its wounds? When panic sets in, the forty-sixth Psalm speaks of God as refuge and strength; our very present help in trouble. No wonder we’re told not to fear even though the earth should change and mountains be shaken into the oceans (Psalm 46:1,2). And there’s nothing sweeter than Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart…” Close—yes, He’s so very close to broken hearts that need mending.
And what a touch He has. In a remote African village lay a sick old man. A doctor from the government hospital said he must go immediately to the nearby hospital for treatment. The old man refused, saying he wanted to be sent to a little mission hospital. “Why?” asked the doctor. “The government hospital is closer and has very modern equipment. Why would you want to go to such an ill-equipped hospital?” “Because,” answered the old man, “The hands there are different. There you are touched with hands that care.”
God has hands that care, and He also uses others who have experienced pain to reach out to broken hearts. The greatest salve will always be His Word. When you walk through the fire He promises to be with you (Isaiah 43:2). When dismay envelopes you like a dark fog, He speaks, “Fear thou not; for I am with you…” (Isaiah 41:10). When cares pile up and threaten to crush to dust your already broken heart, He quietly urges, “Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7).
Or when the death of a loved one has devastated you, or the cruelty of a divorce or a painful marriage must be endured, or your life’s work goes unnoticed and unappreciated, or you feel rejected by fellow Christians and maybe even your own loved ones—the Holy Spirit’s determination is to break through all your confusion, chaos and concern with God’s reality. It is impossible for you to ever be alone, because God Himself has said, “…I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake nor let you down, relax My hold on you. Assuredly not! So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my helper, I will not be seized with alarm—I will not fear or dread or be terrified. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5,6, Amplified Bible).
(TO BE CONTINUED)
