A Beloved Broken Heart

When you hurt the worst, go to your secret prayer closet and weep out all your bitterness. Jesus lamented over Jerusalem and wept at the funeral of a friend. Peter carried with him the hurt of denying the very Son of God, and he wept bitterly! Those bitter tears worked a sweet miracle in him, and he came back to shake the kingdom of Satan.

Years ago, a woman who had endured a mastectomy wrote a book entitled First, You Cry. How true! Recently, I talked with a friend who was just informed he had terminal cancer. “The first thing you do,” he said, “is cry until there are no more tears left. Then you begin to move closer to Jesus until you know his arms are holding you tight.”

Jesus never looks away from a crying heart. In fact, he treasures such a tender spirit. The Bible clearly states, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth your praise. For you do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:15-17, NKJV). Not once will the Lord say, “Get hold of yourself! Stand up, and take your medicine. Grit your teeth, and dry your tears.” No. Jesus bottles every tear in his eternal container.

Do you hurt? Go ahead and cry. Keep on crying until the tears stop flowing. Only let those tears originate from hurt not from unbelief or self-pity.

God wants your faith, your confidence. He wants you to cry aloud, “Jesus is with me. He will not fail me. He is working it all out right now. I will not be cast down. I will not become a victim of Satan. I will not lose my mind or my direction. God is on my side. I love him, and he loves me!” Encourage yourself in the Lord. When the fog surrounds you and you can’t see any way out of your dilemma, lie back in the arms of Jesus and simply trust him.