Hope For Our Hearts

HOPE WAS MY TOPIC for two women’s holiday events, a week apart on opposite coasts. Following each one, I greeted women from all walks of life. As I listened to their stories, one woman after another relayed circumstances that had led to her broken heart. In response, I wrote this poem:

My heart is broken,

But you can’t see a trace

Of the anguish I feel

Since a smile lights my face.

My heart is broken;

It’s crushed, and I know

The pain that I hide

Will eventually show.

My heart is broken;

Yours might be too.

Oh, listen, sweet sister;

I’ll share my promise with you.

Our hearts are broken,

But I read in God’s Word

That we can have hope;

Our prayers have been heard.

“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

The women’s tales of heartbreak stunned me, yet I encouraged every storyteller with the truth that God not only cares but is also on the scene instantly, offering supernatural hope. I could relate to the women’s pain from personal experience, and I could reassure them because God had been faithful to draw me close when my spirit was crushed.

God may not be physically close when our hearts break, but His presence is real. There is no mistaking God’s nearness; no human comfort compares, and He offers us real hope. Most of us identify with the women in this story because we, too, can become disillusioned when our hope is dependent on fluctuating circumstances, feelings, and relationships. Biblical hope, by contrast, is based on the sure promises in God’s Word (see Romans 15:4). Over time, as we apply truth about God to the circumstances in our lives, we have hope for our hearts, a hope that does not disappoint (see Romans 5:5).

God offers hope full of promise and substance to brokenhearted women whose spirits are crushed. He saves us from despair and hopelessness and wraps His spiritual arms around us, like a mother wraps her arms around her child who skinned a knee or was bullied at school. The spirits of wounded people are encouraged by the compassion and presence of our God, who loves us and draws near to us. We can cry out with the psalmist, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).

Why are we so susceptible to broken hearts? Our hearts are tender, made in the image of God, equipping us to love, serve, and give. But like fine china, soft hearts are easily broken. Only God knows how many of us travel through each day lugging the weight of a broken heart. Even when it seems that no one understands our heartaches, there is Someone who is “greater than our heart and knows all things” (1 John 3:20). Our Savior comprehends the cause of every broken heart, whether it is rejection, loneliness, injustice, disapproval, fear, illness, conflict, disappointment, or some other difficulty.

Jesus had compassion for the pain of the hopeless, rejected woman at the well (see John 4). She was living with her sixth “husband” when she met Jesus. He knew her past, but unlike all the people in her world who kept their distance, Jesus came close and offered her His living water—eternal life. When she drank, she had hope for her thirst, her broken heart, and her future. An encounter with Jesus changes everything! We can say with the psalmist, “My hope is from Him” (Psalm 62:5).

None of us are immune from the pain of a broken heart. Don’t wait any longer to bring your heartaches to the Lord and receive His hope. Proverbs 13:12 reminds us that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” God alone enables us to keep from losing heart, and He offers us supernatural healing as we trade our broken hearts for His genuine, powerful, life-changing hope. When people and circumstances cause our tender hearts to break, we can, by faith, place our trust in the person and promises of God (see Psalm 78:7). And as we look ahead to our sure hope of heaven (see 1 Peter 1:13), we trust that in God’s hands, the hard things we are facing now are opportunities for growth and grace. Our biblical hope is the dynamic confidence that God will come through. He doesn’t just give us hope. As 1 Timothy 1:1 assures us, He is our hope!

REFLECTION

Take time now to talk to your Savior about your heart issues. Memorize Psalm 34:18—the verse at the end of the poem—as a reminder that God is with you in your suffering. Then read the story about the woman at the well (John 4:7-30) and tell others, like the woman at the well did, about our God who offers His hope for our heartaches.