Healing for a Hurting Heart

I remember years ago, when I was a young man, I was engaged to be married, and the girl I was engaged to wanted a very expensive engagement ring that wiped out my entire savings, but we were in love, or so I thought, until she cheated on me with another man. Well, our engagement was called off, and to top it all off, I lost half the money I spent on that overpriced engagement ring, because the jeweler would only take it back on consignment, for half the price he sold it to me. I not only got burned by love, I lost money on the deal.

The day we broke up, I laid in bed and cried all day. It was devastating when someone you trust cheats on you. It's a feeling of betrayal like no other.

It took me a long time before I could forgive that person, but that's what we need to do. When you harbor resentment and bitterness towards another, it'll only eat away at you and make you more miserable. You have to eventually let it go and forgive them.

You may not ever trust them again, but you have to forgive them. As Christians, we are commanded to forgive those who have wounded us, Ephesians 4.32 declares, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. And in Matthew 6.14, it states, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But what about the pain that remains, feeling like you've been kicked in the gut by being cheated on? What do you do with the knife in your heart? In a marriage where a spouse has been unfaithful, there's ruin and wreckage and often divorce. What do you do with the hurt that feels like a great cement weight hanging around your neck? What about depression, anger, resentment? All you can do is carry your hurting heart to Jesus. He knows what it's like to be forsaken by men and experience betrayal by a friend who sold him out for 30 pieces of silver.

I had a friend of my wife's whose husband was unfaithful to her, and the first thing we did was invite her over to our house with some other Christian friends to comfort her and pray for her. We sat in a circle, and each of us prayed for God's healing hand to be upon her family, especially the children who were emotionally wounded by their dad's infidelity. When a spouse cheats, everyone suffers, and it's a time for the family of God to be there to put their arms around them and do things like bringing meals or mowing the lawn.

Do what you can to show the love of Jesus and let them know they are not alone in this, but the key is not to allow resentment to turn into bitterness and unforgiveness. You have to let it go and give it to God, but there's still wounded feelings and a broken heart that's raw with emotions. Jesus knows your hurting heart.

Jesus knows the pain you are going through. That expression, time heals all wounds, isn't necessarily true. Only Jesus can bring healing to a hurting heart.

I have a little chihuahua dog, and she likes to climb up in my lap. She feels safe there. She feels loved there when I'm hurting, when the world is pressing me down.

I climb up in the lap of Jesus, if I may so speak, and I rest securely in His arms. He can comfort the broken-hearted. He can heal the wounds that are still raw.

When you can barely hang on today, He can give you hope for tomorrow. Jesus says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly and hard, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

A farmer once shared with me that when two oxen are under a yoke, it is the stronger of the two that carries the heavier part of the load. The load that you carry, friend, may be too heavy for you, but Jesus will take the harder part and carry it for you if you give it to Him.