Mend a Broken Heart – Part 1 — Morning Devotions

By Chris WittsFriday 8 Oct 2021Morning Devotions with Chris WittsDevotionsReading Time: 3 minutes

They say time heals all wounds. But what about the wounds that people can’t see? We can’t go to the doctor and say, “I have a broken heart, can you fix it?” So who can we go to when we have a broken heart? Is there anyone who cares?

Psalm 147:3 (NIV) says: “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds”.

Many of us have hidden wounds:

• We can be hurt by the prejudices of our society, or by colleagues in school or at work.
• We can be scarred by the abusive behaviour of our own family.
• We can be wounded by a broken marriage, or a friendship that was betrayed.

Emotional pain is harder to heal

Physical wounds can be treated: you go to your doctor and usually he/she is able to determine the best course of action to help you get better. Maybe a fracture or break: X-rays are taken, and something can be done to help you. But do you know the emotional pain inflicted on us by someone else can be more difficult to get over?

The Bee Gees‘ song of the 1970s was quite popular: “How can you mend a broken heart?” Words say:

How can you mend this broken man?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart
and let me live again.

What is it about this song that touches people? Because we can identify with the lyrics—it can certainly make us reflect on our own broken hearts. Have had your heart broken in the past? You may have this huge gaping hole in your heart that was left by someone or circumstances. How many feel that this hole can never be filled and that you will be left with the emptiness in your heart forever?

I’m not being over sentimental here – it’s life’s reality. In many families today there is sorrow: for example the loss of childhood and never knowing what a loving father is like. Maybe you’re one of those who never heard your father say, “I love you” or “I am very proud of you.” And so you grow into adulthood never having experienced what it is like to feel secure, with a strong father in your life, protecting and keeping you safe. This reality has left a hole in many a heart. But did you know the Bible tells me that God wants to bring healing and fulfilment in spite of the inner wounds? God will bring healing from the inside out when you put your trust in Him.

We need God to help us go through our hurt

I think that often sorrow and loss are like deep wounds. They can be so painful that it seems no-one or nothing can make the pain go away. Sometimes our heart is so broken that we can’t even express the words and nothing seems to take the pain away. If you have ever had an injury or a deep cut, you know how painful it is and how it hurts to be touched. Oftentimes sorrow and loss are like deep wounds.

People who try to encourage us can’t seem to say the right thing. Like a deep wound, a broken heart will not heal overnight. Like some medicines that burn when you apply them to a skin wound, so can a well-meaning friend who says the wrong thing at the wrong time. It’s the same way with our broken heart. We need the right ointment to bring about healing.

Understand that it is OK to hurt. We try to push the hurt away, but we can’t. The hurt isn’t outside of us—it’s inside. So, in our attempt to push the hurt away, we actually push the hurt deeper inside. We then can spend the rest of our life running from this suppressed hurt.

By going through our hurts, we are a part of the human race—millions of people who are going through similar pains. It is during this time that we need a lot of love, encouragement and hope restored. We realise how frail we are and see our great need for God.

(To be continued in Mend a Broken Heart  – Part 2)