Can God use my broken heart to bring him glory? If so, how? - Brokenhearted - TouchPoints

Joel 2:12-13The Lord says, “Turn to me now. . . . Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.

Our broken hearts can lead us to God. Humility is a good starting place on the road to reconciliation, because it puts God and our problems in their proper perspective. External expressions of repentance are not a substitute for deep inner grief over sin. God always welcomes a genuine return.

James 4:9Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.

Exposure of our sins ought to lead to brokenhearted responses. James was an equal-opportunity confronter, holding up the lives of both believers and unbelievers to examination before God. Repentance will be an ongoing discipline as we follow Jesus.

Lamentations 1:20Lord, see my anguish! My heart is broken and my soul despairs, for I have rebelled against you.

Recognizing and expressing sorrow over sin is a healthy part of repentance. Sometimes it takes a broken heart and a soul in despair to truly consider what God offers us in comparison to the world.

Psalm 51:17The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

A broken spirit and heart combine to make the sacrifice God wants from us. When our rebellious wills have been shattered and our hearts ruptured by grief, we can offer God only brokenness—but he is willing to make us whole.

2 Corinthians 7:9I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way.

Paul had sent the Corinthians a letter filled with sharp words that were painful for them to read. But their broken hearts led them to realize, confess, and repent of their sin. Paul recognized that deep wounds are sometimes the tools God uses to get our fullest attention.

Psalm 51:8-10Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

A rightly broken heart not only looks at the ugliness of its sin but also, like a child under discipline, reaches helplessly for a parent’s comfort and love. Effective repentance never loses sight of the character and promises of the one before whom we repent.

Psalm 30:11You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.

Your grief will lead to healing, and your healing will lead to rejoicing. When God works his healing in your life, you will rejoice—and others will rejoice with you.

2 Corinthians 1:4, 6He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. . . . Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.

On the other side of brokenhearted moments lie opportunities to use our experience to comfort others. We can tell them what God has done for us and hold out the hope that God will do the same for them. Our grief ceases to be a reason for anger and becomes a redemptive energy that can point others to God for comfort and salvation.