God Heals the Broken Hearted

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Visited some friends today that I've not seen in a while. One was actually my high school freshman English teacher and drama coach. We had lunch at a local cafe and when we finished her and her husband invited me to take a look at their library. I love libraries, books period are just a fetish of mine. I'd spend all day in a book store over shopping for clothes and shoes any day of the week. I just don't enjoy shopping but looking at books for hours on end is one of my favorite things to do. My friends sent me from their library with 2 book bag loads of books. I'm so excited about diving into them.

One of the books had a very wise piece of advice about absence written in it. From Gospel Medicine by Barbara Brown Taylor, "One thing is for sure: there is no sense of absence where there has been no sense of presence. What makes absence hurt, what makes it ache, is the memory of what used to be there but is no longer......You cannot miss what you have never known, which makes our sense of absence - and especially our sense of God's absence - the very best proof that we knew God once, and that we may know God again. There is loss in absence, but there is also hope, because what happened once can happen again and only an empty cup can be filled. It is only when we pull that cup out of hiding, when we own up to the emptiness, the absence, the longing inside - it is only then that things can begin to change."

Some may question why I put the part about "that we knew God once, and that we may know God again". We've had times in our walk with God that we get away from the closeness we once had with Him. In my case I once became so mad at God I didn't want to have anything to do with Him. And I did miss Him when I was able to realize I had pushed Him away and He wasn't there like He use to be. God is a gentleman, He is never going to force Himself into your life without your permission.

I also know from experience that God is always with us when we are heartbroken. Filling up the void that seems like a huge hole inside our heart. "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
Isaiah 40:11 "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." I am reassured in my brokenness knowing that God cares for me when my heart aches and hurts. God knows what is next and He knows what is best for me.