Love and heartache go hand in hand.
You put your heart on the line and someone disappoints you, treats it flippantly, or outright rejects you.
It hurts.
Everything in you wants to blame them or yourself or the notion that love is worth fighting for.
The air around you grows stale. The sunlight falls short of reaching you. And you go through the motions while the world around you continues on- living, laughing, and celebrating.
You start to lose hope that someone’s coming to rescue you.
Love and heartache go hand in hand, but so far, you only really know the side of it where all the pain lives.
There’s nothing worse than the world celebrating love when your heart is broken and you’re fighting just to put one foot in front of another, trying to hold onto hope that better days are ahead.
If that’s where you find yourself this week, I just wanted you to know someone cares. Maybe I don’t know your story or the details of your pain, but it’s enough that you’re aching and you feel alone that moves me to write these words.
I’ve been there too. Maybe we all have at one time or another.
I can identify with the numb feeling that settles in as you sit on the sidelines, watching other people love life. The emotion that wells up in the back of your throat and eventually forces you to pull over on the side of the road. All the anger and sorrow, swirling together into a tornado that leaves you unsure of what to feel or think.
Perhaps it feels trite or cliche that I bring up God in the midst of it. Maybe the idea makes you roll your eyes. Or maybe there’s something inside of you that longs for Him to be true, that needs Him to care. The psalmist wrote, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
God enters into our pain, unafraid to weep with us, unashamed to wrap His arms around us, uninhibited to love us right where we’re at, regardless of whether we're to blame for the situation or not.
He invites us to reach out to Him, to grab hold of His hand and let Him pull us out of the heartache we’re drowning in.
“Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.” Psalm 50:15
“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:2
All you have to do is reach out your hand and take hold of His. The heartache won't disappear, but He won't leave your side as you walk through it, together.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God.
Isaiah 43:2-3
It's Valentine's week and I'm praying for you. We also want to invite you to consider joining one of our small groups that meet throughout Spokane on various days of the week. Lots of them are activity based or oriented around a community project. And it's a great way to connect with other people.
We're also in the middle of series entitled The Vow at Sun City Church. And you may feel like the last thing you want to do is hear about relationships and marriage, but maybe it can give you hope that things don't have to stay the same way. God has great plans in store for you and we want to help you understand how to step into them.
Our services are on Sundays at 9:15 & 11:00 am. The address is 10920 E Sprague Ave. We'd love to see you there!
