Psalm 34:18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart
bro·ken-heart·ed – overwhelmed by grief or disappointment.
Funny, I never had associated brokenhearts with disappointment. I always thought of heartbroken as a high school crush thing. (Had my heart broken many a time.) That was something that was just a passing thing though, for a teenager. Not really the same thing as a real broken heart.
Brokenhearted people often are permanently changed and potentially mortally wounded. It’s not a just mild disappointment, it’s pure devastation. It might be about something that may not even mean anything to anyone else, but it is to them. A lady once was destroyed because her cat died. It`s not for me to decide what`s worthy to be brokenhearted about. She was sad, so I was sad for her (not so much for her cat though, if it had been a dog, maybe, but definitely not for a cat). Brokenhearted people are anything but prideful. God is close to the brokenhearted but far from the prideful.
Psalm 138:6 KJV. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
Brokenhearted people are crushed people. Like Myrrh which was brought to Jesus when He was a baby. Myrrh is a worthless, inedible seed from a thorny bush in Somalia Africa. But when you crush it, it gives off an beautiful aroma and also is used to aleve suffering. Crushed people can be used by God to give off a pleasing aroma and to aleve suffering in others. Most Christians are Christians because they got crushed by the world and God saved them from it. God has no grandchildren. I can usually detect another born again Christian from the other side of the room. God is close to them, because they have been brokenhearted (crushed). My pastor used to call me weird because I said I could smell Christians. In an elevator I asked the lady next to me, ´you´re a Christian, aren´t you?^ She said, `yes I am, praise Jesus!` My pastor gave me a long, cold stare.
2 Cor 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
But if you haven’t been crushed (brokenhearted) you are in danger of becoming prideful, which stinketh… I praise God for letting my pride be crushed out of me.
2 Cor 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
Brokenheartedness is good. Brokenhearted people are humbled. They don’t argue, gossip, compete, criticize, strive, judge or any of the other stuff that prideful people do. That is IF they are truly brokenhearted. If there`s an ounce of pride, they really aren´t in that category.
On the otherhand, I have seen brokenhearted people that just don’t try anymore, like they quit on life. I sometimes judge them. I shouldn’t. Maybe their hearts are broken and they haven’t gone to Jesus yet. Maybe they are just disappointed with life. While I could never hire someone in that state, I don’t want to add to their sorrows. Last thing they need is a follower of Jesus to be a `meannie` to them.
As I study God’s Word and ponder it, it makes me gentler with others. I guess because of what I am learning, I am applying it to myself. God’s Word breaks me and makes me humble. The humbler I am, the more patient, kind and gentle I am with others. I don’t understand Bible Scholars who are unkind, judgemental and angry all the time. Sometimes I find myself repenting of something I said, did or even thought about a far back as 20 years ago. The Word of God is like a flashlight, exposing things to me. The more I am in the Word, the more I am shown. Even wrong doctrine. Wrong preaching and teaching. (ouch) Lot’s of wrong beliefs. Worst of all, wrong attitudes. Psalm 119 is in the exact middle of the Bible. Read what it says..
Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
So Psalm 34 says that God caters to people that are brokenhearted. If you are broken hearted, you are in a good spot because there is the Lord, near to you. He is near to you because He knows sorrow and heart ache too. Kinderred spirits I could say. If you are truley heartbroken and grieving, you are becoming more acquainted with Jesus. That’s a good thing. Actually it’s a great thing. The greatest songs and writings and sermons come out of this grief. Actually, even this missive comes out of my personal grief.
Listen to this song written by a man who’s wife left him https://youtu.be/P1TxJHlGdcw
If you are grieving, heartbroken, crushed, you are in great company!
Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
If anyone knows sorrow and grief it is Jesus. Our sorrow and grief can’t be compared to His. Our sorrow or grief most times is about something we brought on to ourselves. Not being careful who we marry, ot raising our kids right, not eating correctly, stuff like that brings plenty of pain into our lives that we could have controlled. Jesus was pure and innocent. That’s the difference. He is filled with grief and sorrow for our mistakes, not His.
God also is near to us because when we are brokenhearted we are in peril. All kinds of horrible things hapoen to brokenhearted people. They loose businesses, ministries, families and sometimes their own lives. I have seen strong Christians fall out of fellowship, even go as far as stop praying and reading the Bible. They are overwhelmed in grief and disappointed in God, and in the brothers and sisters who they feel should have been there more. I have been a pastor for a long time and this is a frequent occurance. That’s why I love going and just ‘being there’. I call it ‘puppy dog pastorring’. I just go and sit besides them and answer only if spoken to. Responsibilities, marriage stuff, other problems and circumstances restrict me a lot, but if I had the freedom, I would spend literally all of my time visiting and sitting with the brokenhearted. That’s how you show God’s love. ‘Evangelize and when necessary open your mouth’ St Francis of Asisi. Brokenhearted people can die from a broken heart. Doctors have told me that Jesus died of a literal broken heart, that’s why they say water came out when they pierced His side. Brokenhearts kill.
2 Cor 7:10 the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Spanish has a better word for brokenhearted. ‘Despechado’. Means your heart is out of your chest. It’s a combination of grief and disappointment. Disheartened in English but a much more intense word in Spanish. Children are the easiest to break hearts with. Most children have had their hearts broken down here. That’s why they don’t want to study or succeed in life. They’ve ‘quit’ at 4 years old. They’re little kids and have given up on life. They’ve been mortally disappointed. So sad
Eph 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath:
That includes spiritual fathers. We should nourish the brokenhearted by identifying with them and being sympathetic, not anger them by minimising their pain.
COVID 19 UPDATE- GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE, PRAYER STILL CHANGES THINGS. WE STILL HAVE NOT ONE CASE AMONG THE 300+ FAMILIES WE SERVE, NOR AMONG OUR STAFF, NOR THEIR EXTENDED FRIENDS AMD FAMILY HERE IN NICARAGUA. NICARAGUA SEEMS TO BE FINE! PRAYING FOR THOSE WHO HAVE IT IN THE STATES. PSALM 91
Pureheart Update – ALL IS GOING WELL. TAKING ADVATAGE OF WINTER VACATION (NOT AS MANY KIDS HERE) BY BUILDING AN ADDITION TO THE WINNER HOME FOR BETTER, MORE COMFORTABLE HOUSING FOR WINNIE AND A WAREHOUSE.
1. PRAYING TO CONTINUE TO BE USEFUL TO GOD.
2. FOR SOULS.
3. HOME VISITATIONS
4. WE STILL HAVE 2 FEEDING CENTERS, AND HELP TWO OTHER FEEDING CENTERS.
6. HELPING OTHERS WITH EMERGENCY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS *RAINY SEASON DESTROYS THE SHACKS THAT MANY OF OUR PEOPLE LIVE IN*.
7. STILL STRIVING WITH THE GOVERNMENTAL PAPERWORK, AMONG OF WHICH IS FOR PERMISSION TO HAVE AN ORPHANAGE-OLDFOLKS HOME ON A SUSTAINABLE GREEN FARM IN THE MANAGUA CITY LIMITS. THIS IS THE 4TH TIME IN TEN YEARS THAT WE HAVE HAD TO START AGAIN FROM SCRATCH EVERYTHING FROM ALL THE ACCOUNTING, BOOKS, AND PERMISSIONS FOR THE ORPHANAGE. EVEN REINCORPORATING DOWN HERE. IT GETS TOUGHER EVERY TIME, BUT WE AREN´T GOING ANYWHERE. THE CPA PAPERWORK AND ACCOUNTABILITY IS ESPECICALLY TOUGH. WE HAVE HAD TO DOUBLE OUR CPS´S PAY .
8. WAITING ON THE LORD TO PROVIDE FOR ALL THE FULL TIME STAFF, DOCTOR, NURSE, AIDES ETC THAT COME WITH A FARM THAT HAS ROOM FOR AN ORPHANAGE AND AN OLD FOLKS HOME ON IT, AS WELL AS THE PROPERTY ITSELF.
A TALL ORDER, BUT NOTHING IS TOO BIG FOR GOD, NOT EVEN DIFFICULT.
Please continue what you are doing to keep us going.. WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING, IT’S WORKING!!. pray, donate, and spread the word!