THE BROKEN-HEARTED AND GOD

    

      I recall the moment when my little brother, Randy, died, and I remember when my nephew told me that my brother, Larry, had passed away. “Thanks for calling,” I said… and then I just put my face in the palm of my hands… and cried. There was the time, too, when we took our dog, Nikki, to the vet for the last time, and I miss her to this day. She was my soul-mate. We walked in the woods around Kalamazoo every day. She could run like the wind, and when she got old and couldn’t make it back home, I carried her back to our house in Rock Island. She meant the world to me and when we said goodbye, I experienced a pain I had never known. There have been times... when the weight of just knowing that I was so far short of the man I should have been… broke my heart.

      And I’m not the only one. Somewhere, someone is visiting a grave with a broken heart; somewhere, someone is burying a child; somewhere, someone has received a pink slip, or the worst possible prognosis, or come home to an empty house; somewhere, someone’s dreams are dying, or their world has been turned upside down. Somewhere, someone has heard that he, she, or a loved one has cancer; somewhere, someone who had decorated a cute little room… has miscarried, and somewhere, someone, like King David, has been crushed by the weight of their own sin. As Charles Spurgeon noted, “There are many sorts of broken hearts, and Christ is good at healing them all.: Some people try counseling, some try anti-depressants, some write an angry letter and then tear it up, but Christ is the Great Physician and the source of our healing... because God has a special place in His heart for the broken-hearted. Listen to the word of God:

1)    The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves those crushed in spirit;

2)    The Spirit alone heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds; (Ps. 147)

3)    When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,,, and the rivers shall not overwhelm you; (Isa. 43)

4)    The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise; (Ps. 51)

5)    Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened… take my yoke… and you will find rest for your souls; (Matt. 11)

9      I wish that God would’ve said, “IF you pass through the waters instead of WHEN.” I wish my brothers were still alive. I wish that Sherry didn’t have cancer … and that every single person in this congregation lived in nothing but sunshine. Of course, that’s not the way it is down here, but God DOES promise that we will never walk alone and never be out of His reach! And God has called us to mend broken hearts in his name. I wish that every member of our church would attend Bible study. I think it's important... but here are the things that are most important:  1) love God with everything you have, 2) love your neighbor as yourself, 3) comfort those who are broken-hearted, and 4) fight for those who suffer from abuse and injustice. May we always stop and listen to someone is despair; may we always look beggars in the eye and help them as we can; and may we always take a stand for righteousness and justice. pk