“Remember this is a love story. And we will never appreciate or desire the hope of our True Love if lesser loves don’t disappointment. The piercing angst of disappointment in everything on this side of eternity creates a discontent with this world and pushes us to long for God Himself — and for the place where we will finally walk in the garden with Him again.”
-Lysa TerKeurst
(It’s Not Supposed to be This Way)
Heartache.
That word cuts deep. It’s like a hot knife that stabs into the flesh and pierces the sternum. Cutting through bones, it make its way to the heart and instead of a light graze across the muscle, it punctures with full force and leaves a gaping wound. After many months, this wound can become infected. It oozes with anger, unforgiveness and pain. The damage to our souls feels like it will kill us, and the everyday tasks we have to complete while still alive feels cruel.
But what if there was a deeper meaning behind our heartbreak? What if our heartbreak from human love and companionship was a different longing than even we recognized? What if our desperation was actually a desire for love from a Creator that made and died for us and lives to see us redeemed and display His power in our lives?
Few books gripped my heart like Lysa TerKeurst’s It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way.
I found myself bawling like a baby through some of this book and at the end the rivers did flow.
Why?
Because I felt her pain.
While facing a separation during her marriage and a husband’s unfaithfulness, Lysa displays a love for the Lord and a respect for that situation that is hard to find. I applaud her ability to show her pain and be transparent while still respecting those involved. It’s refreshing and she is an example to me as well.
This story goes on and Lysa and her husband have since reconciled and renewed their vows which I am happy to congratulate them for and praise God for.
But her quote made me remember a truth I had forgotten:
We would never know the depth of the love of Christ and His care for us if we did not experience the frailty of human love.
No matter the relationship, people disappoint us. People hurt us. People betray us. People let us down.
And we do the same to people.
But God does not.
His love is perfect.
His ways are steadfast even when they feel like chaos in our lives. We do not see the whole picture. We only see some of the situation. God sees all of it. We only see a snippet of film. God sees the whole film. We only see the dime in front of the mountains because the dime is right up to our face. God sees the mountains.
Our deepest heartaches on Earth are not there to break us, but rather to point us to the Savior of the world and a home beyond our universe where we will neither suffer nor sin.
Our biggest disappointments can be used to kindle a fire of longing for a place and a Entity that is greater than ourselves.
It’s sort of like that phrase you hear, “We can’t know how good we have it until we have experienced how bad it can be…”
That’s true.
Now I see where those things that I thought were disappointments were actually pressing me onward to better things, towards the mountains. But all I could see was the dime. And I wanted the dime more than the mountains. The mountains have brought me more than I could ask for and I am so thankful.
Beloved, trust.
Beloved, love.
Beloved, live.
If you know me well, you know I LOVE spring, because I love flowers. You can see the face of God in a flower and my Mawmaw always says a flower can tell when you love it. This is very true.
There is a flower called a bleeding heart. This may sound like brutal plant with thistles and thorns, but it’s not.
It’s actually very beautiful.
What if God sees our bleeding hearts as a flower?
We see a broken heart. A bleeding heart. A fractured heart.
God sees His face in our hearts. He see’s His children, for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.
Beloved, God can take your heartbreak and turn it into a beautiful bloom. Let him water your soul and watch sprouts grow. 🙂
You are loved.
You are valued.
You are useful.
Works Cited:
Heart Picture: https://www.google.com/search?q=heartbreak&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSkrD9oKDhAhWsz4MKHYqsCh0Q_AUIDigB&biw=1418&bih=726#imgrc=_
Landscape: https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1418&bih=677&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=3FqaXMCWIavbjwSnxJOQCQ&q=heartbreak+pictures&oq=heartbreak+pictures&gs_l=img.3..0l4j0i5i30l5j0i8i30.39874.48607..48732…14.0..0.227.2656.32j1j1……2….1..gws-wiz-img…..0..0i67j0i10.DnFc6DzRAK4#imgrc=jLwQF2-2w74xoM:
Lysa TerKeurst Picture: https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1418&bih=677&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=M1yaXIWVD4G9jgTbzLmoBw&q=lysa+terkeurst&oq=lysa+terk&gs_l=img.1.0.0j0i67j0l8.561985.563894..566086…2.0..0.93.918.11……1….1..gws-wiz-img.RQjJZ2JE8NM#imgrc=J5a8kulR0n6hKM:
Dime: https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1418&bih=677&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=r1-aXL6IMKvJjwTNta34AQ&q=holding+dime+in+front+of+face&oq=holding+dime+in+front+of+face&gs_l=img.3…7822.9935..10107…2.0..0.91.1322.17……1….1..gws-wiz-img.r98gPXhs2B8#imgrc=dEvRWPCpEkVG_M:
Suffering: https://www.google.com/search?q=for+we+know+that+our+suffering+is+nothing+compared&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjp5sS7q6DhAhXJrIMKHbJ-B5oQ_AUIDigB&biw=1418&bih=677#imgrc=_1c5KNmAi-yVEM:
Bleeding Hearts: https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1418&bih=677&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=X2KaXMTlL6rujwSMsp_gAw&q=bleeding+heart&oq=bleeding+heart&gs_l=img.3..0l10.169649.173487..173731…5.0..0.108.1601.18j1……1….1..gws-wiz-img…….0i67j0i10j0i8i30j0i24j0i10i24.ppYP6rh6-F4#imgrc=cgAVpd3W_uRFlM:
https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1418&bih=677&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=X2KaXMTlL6rujwSMsp_gAw&q=bleeding+heart&oq=bleeding+heart&gs_l=img.3..0l10.169649.173487..173731…5.0..0.108.1601.18j1……1….1..gws-wiz-img…….0i67j0i10j0i8i30j0i24j0i10i24.ppYP6rh6-F4#imgrc=GHFt5X-DHv8V6M: