Today I wanted to share with you a post written by a very special person in my life, Jeanne Kaufman. Please take a moment to read the truths she has highlighted from scripture. You will be blessed not only by her mini-testimonies, but also (and more importantly) by the incredible promises from God.
{Comforting Truth – The Lord is Near}
Psalm 34:18
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Have you ever felt so sad, so devastated, so disappointed that you’ve literally lost your energy to do anything? The things you used to enjoy don’t matter anymore and you wonder if you will ever feel ‘normal’ again?
{Comforting Truth – Strength From God}
Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
There are times in life when we suffer from a broken heart and the pain is there dominating every second of the day. It may be due to a broken relationship, something you hoped for is gone, or the loss of someone who was precious to you.
I have been there before, broken, weak, sad and lonely. I know the pain of people walking out of my life, people I loved who I thought would always be there for me. It could be that your heart feels like it is breaking when someone you love is in pain and you want to fix it in the worst way, but you feel helpless.
{Comforting Truth – Jesus is Your Rock}
Psalm 18:2
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
One thing I am continually reminded of is that we are triune beings: we are spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. The arena of our soul includes our emotions, our will and our mind. Jesus said, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you”. This awareness of my soul being made whole by Jesus, along with my spirit and my body has brought great strength time and time again. Paul said in the New Testament, “when I am weak, then am I strong”. I have come to realize in the 40 years of my relationship with Jesus, that its OK for me to feel weak. When I feel weak within myself, I rely totally on Jesus power and on His strength. The Word that Paul scripted is then fulfilled and I become strong. The book of Daniel tells us that the people who know God ARE strong and do exploits. I can do nothing on my own without Jesus love, strength and power.
{Comforting Truth – Faith Sees the Answer}
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Years ago when our 6 year old daughter was diagnosed with an incurable muscle-skin disease, my heart broke. For 12 years we purposed to focus on what Jesus said, rather than our circumstances, rather than her pain, rather than our discouragement. We made a decision to put God’s Word above every other report we received.
{Comforting Truth – Rest}
Matthew 11:38
Come to Me, all who are weary, and exhausted and I will give you rest.
Not everyone’s story ends happy like ours did with our daughter being healed, but we thank Jesus for His Word and we know we serve a kind and a loving God whose plan is to heal broken bodies, broken hearts and hopeless spirits.
{Comforting Truth – Stay in Peace}
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I GIVE to you. Its not like the world gives, so don’t allow your heart to be troubled and plan on purpose not to be afraid.
It is imperative that we live in the truth and the knowledge that we can do all things, but it is only through Jesus Christ, the One who strengthens and empowers. When we are broken, needy and desperate for Jesus we can call on Him for help. Here we are engrafted into His life-line and revived, encouraged and healed.
{Comforting Truth – Trust Jesus}
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and don’t try to figure everything out. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
I know how it feels to be overwhelmed with a sense of lack when my broken heart has needed mending and you feel like it’s hard to get your next breath. Jesus is faithful when we feel faithless and He is able to use broken people when we turn to Him. One of the meanings of healing literally means to stitch us up and Jesus does this with our broken, wounded and disappointed hearts.
{Comforting Truth – Don’t Carry Your Problems}
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxieties on Jesus, because He cares for you.
My encouragement is to stay in faith and practice keeping your focus on the Promise, not the problem. When Jesus makes us whole and we allow His compassion to fill our hearts, we can be loving, forgiving and kind to others. We can help heal others pain. He takes the broken pieces of our heart and touches us with His glory. He caresses us in billows of love and tenderly speaks “Shalom” into our wounds, whispering ‘there is nothing broken precious one, there is nothing missing, you are well, you are whole, you are complete in Me.’ We are then able to look for the best in others because we are at peace. We are keenly aware of our own weakness without Jesus and we learn to rest our entire being on His breast and be nurtured minute by minute in His Presence. We can breathe again, we can live, we can love because we have received ‘the Touch’ that makes us whole.
{Comforting Truth – Cheer Up}
John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace, in the world there will be trouble, but cheer up (take heart) I have overcome the world.
This post was written by Jeanne Kaufman of Holy Life Tabernacle in Brookings, SD. For more from Holy Life, check out www.HolyLifeTabernacle.com or subscribe to their 3 podcasts on iTunes.
