broken heart

Tragedy

Recently a tragedy happened in a place that I use to call home. I know tragedies happen quite frequently in the lives of many people throughout the world. You hear about them so often on the news that sometimes you forget how violently it many have shaken an individual, family or at times even a nation. But for some reason this particular tragedy hit too close to home and yet I never knew the people personally.

June 29th, while I was busy about my day, the fishing boat Miss Destinee capsized in the frigid waters of Kodiak, Alaska. Two of the crew members were immediately rescued while the other two were listed as missing. I watched the episode unfold on social media as family members and friends hoped and prayed for the best. Despite the best efforts of the Coast Guard and others, the two young people: a brother and sister ages 18 and 22  lost their lives as the unforgiving cold waters rushed quickly inside the capsized boat.

The news gripped my heart as I sat on my cozy couch reading the social media posts and the news releases. I prayed and I wept. I didn’t understand why this particular event stirred me to the core. Maybe it was because they lived in the town I use to call home or that they were friends of people I knew closely or the fact that I had just been there at the church a few weeks earlier joining the young lady and her older brother as they led worship.  (I know in my heart that they are now worshiping our Lord…live!) Or maybe my heart ached so furiously because I was sure their parents and remaining older sibling were being crushed with incredible heartache and loss. As a parent I cannot even begin to understand that pain. Whatever the reason for my personal heartache, I had been impacted by the loss, though indirectly.

Life is precious. Each life is precious. To have a life snuffed out so early and so senseless is heart wrenching. It fills the minds of those left behind with questions that have no answers.

Recently, it seems I have known more people who have passed on to eternity. Perhaps that is because I am older and have lived long enough to witness tragedy or perhaps it is because I see it more clearly. Though I have not been impacted by war as some of my friends around the world have, nor gone into war as my son experienced, I hear the echoes and vibrations of its influence. From the terrorist attacks abroad and on our soil,  or murderous acts of selfish rage, or horrible accidents to an incurable illness; death is real. Lives are lost and mourning begins.

I do not have any expertise regarding the pain these individuals are going through. I have friends that have lost close loved ones.  I’ve attended several memorials and funerals. I’ve cried with those in mourning. I’ve prayed for those left alone. But I cannot give a word of comfort from a deep place of experience. Still I want to somehow reach out and tell the world that someone precious is gone from our world. Someone precious in the sight of the Lord has passed on.

I use to wonder what the scripture meant that said:
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” Psalm 116:19 (NIV)

But I have come to believe that he sees each life individually as valuable.  Jesus even wept when Lazarus died, knowing he would come back to life on this earth and live in eternity with him.  I believe that he considers the death of his followers, his children, as precious because he knows how unique each life was on this earth!  And he has a specific place for them in heaven, created just for them — for you and for me — that he is saving. It is like when a friend saves your seat at a particular event. HE is saving our place, with our name already written on it. And when we arrive he welcomes us with open arms and gets excited to see us!

He said: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:3 (NASB)

God is powerful, yet God is tender. He is wiser than us and his ways are higher than ours. If God knows the number of hairs on our head, and knows the number of days we will live, we must each be extremely important to his heart. I believe that he values your life and my life, the lives of those that have died before us, and the lives of those not yet born more than fine costly gold or increasing strength and power.

He loved us enough to send his son to DIE.  It was a costly death. It was a death that left Jesus alone carrying the heavy weight of all the world’s sin and illness. It looked like defeat. But He died so that we…you and I…can LIVE with him in eternity. Otherwise there would be no hope and we would die a second death into the darkness of hell.

I cannot understand why an early death happened to the two young people or why good people suffer. I know that God never promised us continued days of happiness in this life. He did, however, promise that there will be many trials in this world. But he added to that statement saying that he will give us peace through it and we were to be of good cheer for he had already overcome the world.  (John 16:33)   Thank the Lord.

One of my life versus is: “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)

So I trust him though I don’t always understand.  And I pray for those that are mourning a loss of someone who was extremely special in their lives. God is wiser than we are and loves us more than we can comprehend; only wanting the very best for us. Some of the tests that we have to go through seem impossible! But God will make a way. He said in the book of Luke that what is impossible with man is possible with God.

Whatever you may be facing today. I pray that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 (ESV)

God Bless.

 

 

 

Broken

 

Having raised chidren and now grandchildren it is inevitable that something will eventually get broken, whether it is fine china, or electronics or just toys.

Besides broken “things” that can be associated with raising children there is also a possibility that there may be accidents and injuries. That was the case the night my 13-year-old son broke his arm while riding his bike down an incredibly dangerous hill. Several doctor visits and operations later his arm was almost as good as new. But he has a permanent battle scar down his arm to prove his injury.

But what happens when your heart is broken? What about those scars? That is harder to fix because it is hidden. “Above all else guard your heart for EVERYTHING you do flows from it.”  Proverbs 4:23. (NIV)  We make choices from our heart that can affect our lives and those around us. That is why we are warned to guard it.

Matthew 15:18 states, “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person.”  (NET)

You don’t have to look far to see hatred, violence and anger. It is all over the news these days. Sometimes I wonder what the condition of the heart of an individual is that reacts with such vileness. Were they abused or abandoned? Are there unresolved issues that have lingered from childhood into adulthood? Maybe there was brokenness over a death or disappointment. Bitterness and resentment may have crept into the cracks of a broken heart causing hurt and anger.

We have all gone through situations that were difficult or circumstances that were unfair. Some may be trivial while others devastating. But what is important is not neccesarily the broken heart but what we allow to enter into the cracks that were created through our brokenness.

Do we allow bitterness or healing to enter into our hearts?

We, in the Christian community, have heard the verse, “By his stripes you are healed” found in Isaiah. Most of the time we think of that as a physical healing. And I believe that it was and is. But what about our emotional healing? What about the area of the heart?

I believe that Christ died — gave up his life willingly– for every area of our lives. He freed us from our sin, from fear, from sickness, from heartache, and from bondage of any kind and ultimately from eternal death. That is not to say that we will never experience hard things, but we can accept his healing power in the midst of heartache.

Psalm 147:3 states “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds” (NLT)

How gentle and caring is our God. He heals our broken hearts. He is familiar with heartache and pain. Often times we try to heal the brokenness of our hearts ourselves through relationships, careers, fascinating adventures, money, and substance abuse and even violence. But ultimately only He can heal our hearts completely. It is the brokenness of our hearts that draws him close.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18 (ESV)

But he doesn’t necessarily replace our brokeness into what it was before. Instead he replaces it with his light, with his love. So it is no longer us that shines, but it is his light that shines through those cracks.
Facebook-20170419-075540Do your remember the light sticks that glow only when they are broken? They are similar to our broken hearts. Sometimes the light only comes through after the brokeness. When we are crushed all we have is the light that is shining within. The broken pieces never get put back together exactly as they were before because we are human and we bear the mark of the injury just as my son did with the scar on his arm. But Jesus can fill that place of brokenness, if you let him. And the light that shines through those cracks of imperfection can actually be used as a beacon.

Have you noticed that insects are drawn to a light shining in the dark of night? That is why those light zappers work so well. But we are drawn to the light that shines in the darkness, as well. And that light is Jesus. We may be cracked pots, so to speak, but if we allow the light of Jesus to bring healing to our souls, that same light can also bring healing to others that are walking through similar experiences. It’s amazing because those very areas of brokenness, those very arrows of destruction that were meant to destroy us and to break us are actually the very things that can be used to draw people to the hope of Chirst.

“Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it.” Genesis 50:20a (GWT)  You don’t minfair01[1]have to be perfect. You just need to let HIS perfection shine through the cracks and brokeness of your life.