God
is teaching me so much as I walk through this valley. A dear friend who has
walked this path before shared a great devotional book with me a couple of weeks
ago - Grieving the loss of someone you love by Raymond Mitsch and Lynn
Brookside. It has truly ministered to me. This is one of the devotionals that
meant so much to me. Maybe it will speak to a place in your heart if you are
going through any kind of pain.
“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”
Thank you, Lord, that we
are not Humpty Dumpty!
“In the weeks and months following the death of someone we love, we
often feel like Humpty Dumpty. That’s the only way to describe it. We feel
broken. We hurt so much that our pain seems almost tangible. We move cautiously
and uncertainly because our nerve endings are all on the alert, sensitive to
the slightest stimulus. We breathe shallowly as if we are afraid to take a deep
breath for fear our lungs will press too harshly upon our aching heart. There are
times when the atmosphere around us seems to be charged with our own anguish
and dread. We long for the days when life was simpler, sweeter.
There is a difference, however, between our King and Humpty Dumpty’s.
Our King is able to put even Humpty Dumpty back together again. In fact, our
King sent His Son to be broken for us so that He could put us back together
better than we were before. That doesn’t mean that our pain is not real. It is
very real, just as Christ’s pain was real when He wept for Lazarus. It does
mean that we can have hope in the midst of our pain. It means that we can turn
to our loving Heavenly Father knowing that He will see us through this pain,
knowing that Christ understands our pain because He has felt it himself.
It means that we have an Advocate and a Helper who can assist us as we
grapple with the reality of death, as we struggle to find acceptance – even joy
– in the face of our very personal suffering. If we are faithful to the task at
hand, if we determine to walk through this storm, calling on our
Father/Advocate/Helper, we will arrive at the other side with a renewed
understanding of our own life…and of life in general. We will learn to live
more joyously because we have learned to face death….your job in this
rebuilding process is to hand each piece to your Heavenly Father as He asks for
them. Then watch in awe as He puts them back together…”
All
the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back
together again. I am so glad we are not Humpty Dumpty! My King is strong and mighty!
I know there are many of us who are going through valleys of some sort...You may feel like a broken Humpty Dumpty, too. I know I can count on Him to pick up all my broken pieces and put me back
together again...I hope you know that, too. It is going to be a hard journey but we can all lean on these words from Psalm 147:3
“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”
Another
dear friend reminded me of this song today and it fits perfectly with this
devotional and where I am in this journey…
Broken
Hallelujah by
Mandisa:
With my love and my sadness, I come before You,
Lord, my heart is in a thousand pieces maybe even more.
Yet I trust in this moment, you're with me somehow. You've always been faithful so Lord even now when all that I can sing is a broken hallelujah, when my only offering is
shattered praise,
still a song of adoration will rise up from these ruins, I will worship You and
give You thanks,
even when my only praise is a broken hallelujah.
Oh Father, You have given much more than I deserve, and I have felt Your hand of blessing on me at every turn. How could I doubt Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your grace, So Lord hear my heart in this painful place...
Oh Father, You have given much more than I deserve, and I have felt Your hand of blessing on me at every turn. How could I doubt Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your grace, So Lord hear my heart in this painful place...
Hallelujah,
I lift my voice, Your Spirit moves, I raise my hands, I reach for You.
Keep writing and sharing. It is blessing so many of us.
ReplyDeleteLorie
From Humpty Dumpty, a tunnel toward hope, sand dollars with whole and hole, God is assuredly speaking words of healing. Through your reflections of honest grief and glimpses of Grace we are given an opportunity to share this walk with you. Thank you for the reminders of how deep the Psalms take us into the humanity of life's pain, joy and praise. I love you. Joann (Davis)
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