When Life Breaks Your Heart

“When you can’t see past the tears, trust His heart” – C.H. Spurgeon

Usually when we hear the term “broken heart” we think of it in terms of a broken romantic relationship, but the truth is our heart can be broken when anything our heart has hoped in is disappointed. We hope for a job, promotion, or opportunity and we don’t get it; we hope for a certain direction in life and are dissuaded by sickness, finances, family problems, or who-knows what else; we hope for happiness but often trials and heartache find us instead. Proverbs says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” (Prov 13:12) and when hope is disappointed the heart is indeed as if “sick,” we just tend to use the term “broken”. Emotional pain is very real… and you can’t put a band-aid on it. If it is not dealt with it can lead to depression and even physical illness. And then you can lose hope altogether which is why it has led some to their death or to the taking of their own life. It is possible to die from a broken heart.

However, as a Christian who believes in both the complete sovereignty and perfect goodness of God, I have often sought to understand His purposes for my trials. The path of pain is often mysterious but we do know that in all things God has one ultimate purpose, to conform His children to the image of Christ (Rom 8:28-29). Each time as I have allowed the Lord to work in my heart He has revealed things in my heart that He wanted to correct. This is not to say that we always bring hardship or pain on ourselves because of our sin, although that is sometimes the case. Often the Lord simply allows us to go through hard circumstances in order to grow our faith. If we never struggled, we would never grow. “No pain, no gain” is a motto that the Apostle Paul exemplified.

While there have been many things that I've learned through seasons of brokenness, the correction (teaching) has often centered around one question the Spirit whispers to my heart, “Beloved, where is your hope?” Psalm 42:5 says, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” I chose to use the KJV here because I love the beautiful language of the command “Hope thou in God”. In Psalm 27:13-14 it says this, “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait I say, on the LORD.” Without hope we lose heart, so we must believe. Believe in what? In the goodness of God! Hold on to your faith that God is good and that one day all will be made right. A.W. Tozer wrote, “Whether we are happy or unhappy at any given time is not important. That we be in the will of God is all that matters. We may safely leave with Him the incident of heartache or happiness. He will know how much we need of either or both.” Yes, feelings matter. And we shouldn’t just dismiss the hurt that someone feels. But feelings are not truth. We must look beyond how we feel to Christ who, by the way, suffered more than we ever could.

Jim and Elisabeth Elliot are two of my heroes. Despite their love and desire to marry they waited about 4 years before Jim finally sensed the Lord’s timing and leading them to be joined. Then, less than 2 ½ years later (when their daughter was only a year old) Jim was killed by the natives he was trying to reach with the Gospel. A few years later Elisabeth spent several years in the jungle with the very men who had murdered her husband teaching them the Scriptures. She remarried fourteen years later but then lost that husband to cancer after only 4 years. Having had her share of intense trials, loss, along with struggles with trusting God and forgiving those who had hurt her, she wrote this, “God never withholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God's refusals are always merciful -- "severe mercies" at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our hearts desire except to give us something better.”

I am awed by that truth, are you? It’s one of those truths that can be really hard to believe, but yet we must, for it IS true. And there is great comfort in that – that no matter what pain we go through, God has something bigger in mind. May God help us to embrace the hard lessons, for they are the way to growth.

I will close this by sharing my all-time favorite quote. This prayer by Elisabeth Elliot I have often found myself echoing, sometimes amidst tears and feelings of frustration:

Perhaps some future day Lord,

Thy strong hand will lead me to a place where I must stand

Utterly alone.

Alone, O gracious Love

But for Thee;

I shall be satisfied if I can see – Jesus only.

I do not know Thy plans for years to come

My spirit finds its perfect home sufficiency.

Lord, all my desire is before Thee now

Lead on, no matter where, no matter what – I trust in Thee.

My Strength is Made Perfect

    Well, I'm just getting around to finishing my post from 2 Cor. 12. I've had a hard time coming back to finish this post, but for some reason I feel in the mood tonight. Why God would give me this mood at eleven at night, I don't know, but it's here!

    We already addressed the first part of this amazing passage in v. 7-10, but here are the verses again, just so you can reread them. "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

    I have no intention of repeating what I already said, but we have been thinking about the concept of God's sufficient grace. As a quick review, it is important to keep that idea in mind today as we look at the second part of v. 8, because the two parts work together.

    "For my strength is made perfect in weakness". What a thought! There are several aspects of this verse that are comforting to an incredible degree, and I'd like to look at at least some of them. Again, this verse is incredibly precious to me, so pardon my extreme partiality! -Think of what God through Paul just said. His strength, the power of an all-mighty Creator, is made perfect in me, by what? My intellect? My superior moral compass? My tighter standards and rules? My theological understanding?

    It's made perfect in my weakness. Christ's strength shines in me the strongest when I am at my lowest, when I have no more I can give Him. When I am completely emptied of myself, God's power can be shown through me.

    That's amazing on two levels. One, how absolutely thoughtless of us to run dashing around trying to appear more spiritual and more perfect than our brothers and sisters in Christ, when in reality, Christ's strength in us is dependent, not on our perfection, but on our dependence. Only when we realize that we need a crutch, and that we can't walk on our own does the idea of Christ carrying us seem so sweet.

    There's a second beautiful aspect to the verse, and that is this: never, never are you too weak, too downtrodden, or too forgotten to be used by God. Never! When we are at our weakest, God can show His strongest through me.

    That said, it should make us think of something. If we want Christ's strength to reside in us constantly, doesn't that necessitate us remaining constantly in a state of utter dependence on God? If in my weakness Christ is strong, then shouldn't I remain forever weak in myself so that I can become strong in Christ? Is that a logical chain of thought?

    See, it's not fun to be weak. It's not fun to look your fear in the face and say, "I can't face you on my own. I just don't have the strength." It's much more fun to walk into temptation and spiritual hard times with the smug, self-confident swagger of a SuperBowl winning football team. It's much more fun to walk into church as the guy with the answers. It's much more fun to pick the toothpick out of someone else's eye than it is to pick the log out my own.

    But when I am weak, and I realize that weakness, that is when Christ can be strongest in me. That is when Christ is free to manifest Himself and his strength through me, and bring Himself glory in doing so. When I realize that I can't, that I'm not strong enough, I'm not big enough, I'm not tough enough to handle life on my own, that is when Christ can come in, and fill me with Himself.

    It is in our weakness that Christ shows His strength. It's in a nearly crying person kneeling in the dirt in Africa, it's in the shy girl at VBS, it's in the lonely highschool student. When we are at our lowest ebb is when Christ is free to show His power, and demonstrate Himself through us. When we walk through life confident in myself, in what I can do and I can say, I do not realize my need for Jesus in my everyday life.

    But when a terrible thing happens, or even a commonplace hard thing comes crashing into your life, and you don't know where else to go, and you know that you have nothing left, that is where God takes the broken, shattered vessels, with nothing but a willingness to be used, that He fills them with Himself, with His Spirit and His power, and He uses them as His instruments.

    My favorite quote by Eric Ludy is when He refers to Christ's as "little lambs, with the faces of lions." Because of the raging power of God, Christ uses us, these broken, weak instruments as His body on earth. Not because we are the strong, but because we are the weak! And because of our weakness, Christ is all the more able to shine through us. In our weakness, Christ demonstrates His strength by giving us, the weak of this world, the power to mock all the powers of earth and hell!

What Will Thou Do In The Valley?

“Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,” ~2 Corinthians 9:10

“Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food”

God gives us all that we need for a spiritual relationship with Him. Simply put, Him, the Bible, and us.

“supply and multiply the seed”

He has the power, and WILL multiply what He has given us.

“you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness”

BUT, before He will “multiply the seed”; we have to put in effort. For example, we cannot expect a deep, spiritual relationship with God if we do not regularly read our Bibles, etc.  This reality is further emphasized by the following passage:

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.  And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” ~Galatians 6:7-9

To put this passage into more easy-to-understand terms:

God is not a God of the lazy, but a God of those who put in effort. If you put your effort into things that are of a sin nature, you will get results of a sin nature. But if you sow according to that which is good and comes from God you will get results that are good and come from God.  This won’t come instantly however. You may have to go quite a while of simply putting in effort before you get the results. But don’t worry, it WILL come, even if it takes a while.

If we think about this in terms of a spiritual relationship with God; we will come to realize that we need to put effort (such as reading our Bibles, prayer, etc.) into a spiritual relationship before we can expect results (spirit of wisdom, revelation in the knowledge of Himself, enlightened eyes of understanding, knowing hope, etc. See Eph. 1:17). 

In my personal opinion, I think we all go through ups and downs in our spiritual relationship with God; or at least I know I have. But one thing I have learned time and time again is that I need to SOW before I can REAP. So badly do we want to reap without sowing; but I am afraid that is not the way life works.

So I encourage you, if right now you are in a valley and not a mountain, read you Bible, pray, get in touch with you God and at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up.

We Truly Are Not Our Own

This is a REALLY good article about how our chief end is truly to glorify God.

I love what the author (Nathan Tasker) says" "Our generation of Christians has become the epitome of lukewarmness. We have become so much like the world, either in a compromising state of spiritual laziness or in a vain attempt to make Christianity look easy-going and free-spirited, that we have made it nearly impossible for unbelievers to see the difference between us and our non-Christian peers."

Do Not Be Yourself

This whole philosophy of "being yourself" is not just in secular circles, but it Christian circles as well. Its sad to think how much we really are effected by our culture's beliefs and ideals without even realizing that it goes against the Bible! We need to be what GOD wants us to be, not be who we are. Who we are is sinful. Who we are is fallen. Who we are is depraved and in desperate need to NOT be ourselves and for someone to give us some other image.  But really, I am not just talking about what GOD wants us to be, but is there anything about yourself you have been wanting to change(as long as that thing is not a sin)? Maybe you want to loose weight, develop a new habit, exercise more, or something else. Don't "be yourself". Be who God calls you to be and secondly, only if this does not go against God's will; be who you want to be.

4 Things God Gives Us

It is for life, hope, happiness and home that we work for.  We can use work as an excuse to distract from God; but in truth He gives us all these things. Life.  Hope. Happiness. Home. 

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. ~ 2 Peter 1:3(NKJV)

Life.  God is the one who gave us life; He breathed it into us.  He not only gave us an earthly life but an eternal one in His presence. 

“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” ~ Job 33:4(ESV)

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” ~ Genesis 2:7(NKJV)

Hope. God gives us so much to hope for; particularly the future blessings He will bestow on us and the inheritance of living eternally in heaven with Him.  Not only that, but the Bible says that it is in Him that we have our hope. (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 15:13).

 ^“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.  And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” ~Hebrews 11: 13-16(NKJV)

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” ~Revelation 21:4(NKJV)

“ “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” ~ Revelation 22:20(NKJV)

Happiness.  Nothing can make us quite as happy as communion with our maker and fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters. And yet, our connection to Christ offers us both things.

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” ~Philippians 4:4  (NKJV)

“Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” ~Isaiah 12:3(NKJV)

“But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” ~ 1 Peter 4:13(NKJV)

Home.  God is our refuge, our home. Deuteronomy 33:27 says that "The eternal God is your refuge." Pay attention to three things in that sentence; eternal, God, and refuge. Not only is our God our refuge, but He is an eternal God offering eternal life.

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ Philippians 3:20(ESV)

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” ~ Ephesians 3:17-19(NKJV)

“But Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” ~Hebrews 3:6(NKJV)

“Home, too, is the place of our truest and purest happiness: and it is in God that our hearts find their deepest delight.  We have joy in Him which far surpasses all other joy. It is also for home that we work and labour.” – Charles Spurgeon

“In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.” - In Christ Alone, Keith and Kristyn Getty

Exchanging Thoughts With Charles Spurgeon: The Preeminence Of Christ

Charles Spurgeon once said "Oh, how precious is Christ! How can it be that I have thought so little of Him? How is it I can go abroad for joy or comfort when He is so full, so rich, so satisfying?"

 Let us not forget Ecclesiastes 1:7 which says "All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again."  This verse should remind us of the preeminence of our Lord and that He is the center of all things. Everything we hold dear should somehow be connected to our love for our Lord. We cannot be full without Christ. Like the old words say "When my precious Lord I find all my ardent passions glow."

But this is not all we can learn from this; Charles Spurgeon notes on this passage that "He who is so good a steward as to be willing to use his substance for the Lord, shall be entrusted with more. Friend of Jesus, art thou rendering to him according to the benefit received? Much has been given to thee, what is thy fruit?  Hast thou done all? Canst thou not do more? To be selfish is to be wicked."

This should put to heart those well-known words, which although explain the purpose of our existence, we still forget them. For "What is the chief end of man?" but "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

Charles Spurgeon later states "God forbid that any of us should follow the ungenerous and destructive policy of living unto ourselves."  Perhaps the worst way to dishonor the name of our Lord is to put ourselves above Him. Let us try very hard to avoid this destructive path!

Charles Spurgeon also finds a lesson in the life of Moses: "Moses, being overtaken by a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator.... We can at once see the mistake which Moses made.  And yet how commonly we do the same!"

Let us turn away from our flesh!  For "we are here as the 'salt of the earth,' to be a blessing to the world. We are to glorify Christ in our daily life. We are here as workers for Him, and as workers together with Him.  Let us see that our life answereth its end. Let us live earnest, useful, holy lives, to the praise of the glory of His grace."  We are here to live for Christ, regardless of how we feel. As Charles Spurgeon says "We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith, because the paths in which He leads us all end in glory and immortality."  We have a short life here on earth, and then we ascend into heaven for all eternity; let us therefore live this time for Christ!

"O let us prove our gratitude by our devotion, and live as those who, having claimed a privilege, are willing to take the responsibility connected with it."  ~ Charles Spurgeon

The Grand Scheme Of Things

So..... Last night I had a bit of a burst of inspiration while reading the Bible(which was probably also influenced from what I have been reading of John Piper and Charles Spurgeon) and so I wrote down everything! It mostly has to do with the relation between heaven and earth and then sort of switches points towards the end. Anyway, enjoy! :D

"The Grand Scheme of things.... Heaven, I think, is an everlasting place of worship. On earth, we have only fractional communion with God, and to further that should be our goal. But in heaven there is no sin, therefore nothing separates us from the Holy One. Only the great, ultimate communion and delight in the Lord exists. But not just that. -The delight is expressed more than ever before even thought possible here on earth. And that is worship, and that is the ultimate joy. The Holy Spirit will be "released" everywhere and in everyone. We will eat, drink, breath, and live in the Holy Spirit forever. We will have God our Father, Christ our brother(and Lord), our friends, family, and be in full communion with them all through the Holy Spirit, joined together in worship forevermore and through all eternity. 

This is heaven, and we get a taste of it here on earth. That taste is to drive us; motivate us. And the joy, that is, the taste, brings forth a love for Christ that is to inspire us to live for HIm, and be the instrument He uses to bring more into His joy.

Until we realise this(this is the part I am most not sure of) or at least to some extent, the connection between heaven, earth and a relationship with God I am not sure if we are REALLY Christians. IF this view is not enough, if the thought of worshiping God for all eternity does not sound like the best heaven but is nauseating, how can we possible be in a relationship with God? Doesn't He say "Depart from me, I never knew you" ? Granted, there are times when the seriousness of sin overwhelms us, and that sin temporarily removes us from the same joy we found once before; but this is not to be the case all the time. Both are necessary for only a person who realises he needs to be healed can be healed."

Biblical references: Hebrews 2:10-12, James 4:9-10, Psalm 51:17, Matthew 5:4, John 5:6-8, Mark 2:17, Matthew 9:12,

And also,  please comment; its what keeps me going! Why write to produce good, if no one will read it and therefore it will not produce good?