She looked me in the eye while admitting her heart was removed from where it needed to be, at home with the marriage she entered into 12 years prior.
Explaining the struggle of her heart, her walk with God and all her surfacing childhood issues, she said,
“I don’t even know how I got here.” Her brokenness revealed her sadness and loneliness.
Condemned because she had succumbed to temptation and was exhausted from running from God and from her life.
Listening with concern, I ached knowing where the path would lead her. Without wisdom to get her attention and call out to her, the spiraling of her life would leave deep marks.
Reminding her that although she was running hard, God was running harder to recapture her heart and start the healing process.
As much as I wanted to wrap my arms around her and hug the hurt away, I couldn’t choose for her. Only she could choose where her next step would be placed.
Falling Short
Haven’t we all fallen short at different points in our lives and walks with God?
Maybe your struggle isn’t like this young woman but in another area of intense struggle.
Burning both ends of the candle emphasizing your exhaustion. Overworking to avoid pain.
Is the strain of a relationship swallowing you up? Do you feel clueless about how to fix it?
Do you have worry and disappointment about your kids’ decisions? Do they keep you up at night because you’re concerned if they will make the right choices?
Are you heartbroken over the pain of people suffering loss from the pandemic and the political divide in our country?
Are you exhausted working that business dream without seeing the progress you thought you would?
It can all be too much. We lift our voice to heaven and watch our tears hit our laps.
We need to stop and catch our breath. Slowing down to get some help for our hurting hearts.
You may have heard of the acronym, Halt. The acronym is broken down to address the need to pay attention to where you are internally and spiritually.
H – Hurting
A – Angry
L – Lonely
T – Tired
Is there a deep place of hurt you want to avoid? Is it easier to avoid because of the fear of discovering how you will heal from the pain?
Are you angry about the way life has turned out? Struggling with resentment towards a relationship that you hoped would be different than it now looks?
Are you lonely inside and yet surrounded with people at work and in your personal life?
Are you tired physically, emotionally and spiritually?
It takes deep work and self-awareness to do internal inventories and sit with the issues of life. It’s always hard, for everyone.
What Is Your Pain Producing?
There is a pain that heals and a pain that hinders. Healing pain helps you go through so you can grow through the process.
Pain that isn’t processed often gets numbed, leading to unhealthy behaviors and vices. There are many false refuges out there calling out to you as a resting place.
They aren’t positioned to preserve or protect you. They call out to lead you off the path. Promising much but delivering little.
But we do have a resting place. God himself waits for us to crawl into his lap and weep. To unload our weary, worried and wayward hearts.
We aren’t designed to carry the weight of it.
Come to me says The Lord, all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest for your souls.
God is our refuge.
He is our strong tower. Our ever present help in times of trouble.
He knows the beginning and the end.
He can speak a word into your situation, “Peace be still.” Calming the storm within us.
We will not know God as our refuge if we feed on constant negativity. If we stay on social media comparing our lives with the filtered moments of the lives of others.
God is in the secret place. In the quiet place behind closed doors. Where the world is shut out and you are shut in. Shut in with Him.
You can trust him. When you can’t see his hand at work you can trust his heart always has your best interest in mind.
He waits for your questions. His ways are higher and when we don’t understand what is going on we can trust He has it in his hands.
It’s too heavy for us. Let’s lay it down by asking him to take the burden. The sleepless nights. The worry about what might be ahead.
He knows what we need. We need peace. We need perspective. We need to know when nothing makes sense we can rest in the one who does know.
We can take our hurting hearts to him and trust that He is able to fill us with what we need right in that very moment.
Father, please comfort our weary hearts. We need to know you are near. We are hungry for the bread of life to sustain us and soothe our hurting hearts. Lord.. give us strength as you restore everything in our lives. We see our great need for you. Heal all of us, in your name we pray Lord. Amen.