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He’s Close to the Broken-Hearted

No one likes pain. But it is a necessary part of life. And loss is one of the most excruciating pains.

But we can have this confidence which helps us when we experience pain. When our hearts are broken, we can know God cares.

It may not feel as if he cares. After all, couldn’t he have stopped whatever happened to cause us this pain? And if we’re missing a loved one, isn’t God the one who took them?

It’s times like these when we have to hold onto the truth. Let the truth dictate our thoughts. If we let our emotions drive our train, it will get derailed.

Many of us will sit around tables today. And while we’re thankful for so many things, seeing empty chairs is not one of them.

So then, what do we do?

Focus is everything

Focus on what you have.

Focus on what you had.

Engage your heart in the process. Your broken, hurting heart.

Thank God

Look past how you feel and thank God for what he’s given you.

Some people have never experienced a love like we did. Whether we’re talking about our mom, our dad, even our spouse.

Some have never experienced intimacy.

And that’s precisely why it hurts so much when we lose them.

Loss I know. Having lost many loved ones. But God is moving me into a wonderful area. God is showing me what he can bring out of those losses.

And believe me, I never thought gratitude was one of them, but it is.

And so I thank God for the times I did have with my family members who are now gone.

Only God can comfort

If you have empty arms, only God can soothe that pain.

But the truth is, this is not all there is.

If your loved one knew Jesus, you will see them in glory.

White-knuckling through is hard. Why not let your tears fall and praise God through them.

That is the sacrifice of praise. Praising God because he’s worthy of praise. Not for what he can do for us.

God is worthy of praise

And if you can’t praise him with your mouth right now, that’s okay.

Just hang onto his outstretched hand.

He’s close to the broken-hearted. He has to be close, he’s catching every tear you shed.

I Also Feel Their Pain

God, how can you be loving
and still allow such pain?
Everywhere my eyes can look,
the suffering’s the same.
Do you have a purpose

I simply cannot see?
How can you allow such pain
and still be loving me?

And then my Lord looks over
and answers tenderly,

I didn’t stop the hands that drove
the nails through my Son.
It isn’t that I didn’t see;
I felt each single one.
When those you love are suffering,
I still remain the same.
For when my children hurt at all,
I also feel their pain.

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Shariel D Guthrie

    Your words have truly encouraged me on today. Thank you & God Bless You.

    1. Anne Peterson

      Shariel,
      Thank you for your comment. I’m glad you felt encouraged.

  2. Daniel Abma

    That was a well written article, life can be difficult, Christ our only hope.

    1. Anne Peterson

      Yes, you’re right, Daniel. Christ is our only hope.

  3. Larecia

    My 17 year old daughter’s boyfriend of almost a year was accidentally shot and killed 5 days ago. She has asked many of these questions. Why did God let this happen? Why did God take him away from me? Why does God want me to hurt? I’ve answered the best I can but this is so hard…

    1. Anne Peterson

      I don’t believe God wants us to hurt. I do believe that he is working things into our character that we have no idea of. God loves us so much he gave his only Son for us. My sister was killed but I don’t believe that’s something God wanted to happen. In our case, we have free will and while we like free will if it’s ours we are talking about it, it is a very different thing when it’s the free will of someone who may hurt us or worse. I believe death has a lot of unanswered questions. It is these areas where we are forced to decide what we are going to trust. I choose to trust God and his character and when I don’t understand the things that happen in my life, I have already made my decision. I will wait till heaven when I will understand things. But now, with my finite mind, I don’t understand. It is one year ago we lost our precious grandchild, Olivia. She had Trisomy 18 which is a genetic disorder. We knew it was terminal and we knew she might not even make it to her birth. But God did allow us to not only meet her, but to know her for 14 months. I ache inside for the pain of missing her and I ache for my son and his wife as we near that anniversary date, but God is good. It’s his character. He can’t be anything but good. So does that mean that only good things will happen in this life? No. We live in a fallen world and many things that happen are very difficult, some almost unbearable. That’s when we need to lean into God and what we know to be true.

      Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for your comment.

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