How to Find Hope in Life When Your Heart Is Broken
We’re sorting through her little backpack when I hear the words echo from the TV in the living room. Another shooting. Fatalities. Children running for safety with their arms stretched in the air. I ask it in the whisper of a softly breathed prayer: Lord, show us how to find hope in life as we live in this broken world.
When will it stop?
When will the brokenness of the world give way to light and healing?
How to Find Hope in Life
We’re all facing the consequences of living in a fallen world.
We all face dark days and troubled times.
I think about this as I set the homework on the dining room table and hand my sweet girl a snack.
My mind drifts to the parents who will never again help with homework.
It drifts to the horror that cannot be described when the call comes to say there were shots fired. We all pray it won’t ever happen to us. We hold our little ones just a bit tighter and consider how we might live differently in light of these fleeting days.
Words of Hope for Your Broken Heart
As I sort through these emotions, I also think of the valleys we’ve walked throughout the past months.
I’m reminded that no trite cliché can take away the pain of the families who have lost their children. I’m also reminded that we have promises to hold us when the darkness threatens to overwhelm us.
Do you need to find a safe place of hope in life today? Cling to these words:
1. We find hope in life when we draw near to the One who will never leave us.
Tragedy prompts us to ask the same question every time it strikes: “Where is God in the midst of this mess?”
We want to know why he hasn’t swooped in to save the day. The familiar words of John’s gospel offer an answer.
Jesus’ dear friend Lazarus has died. Jesus arrives on the scene, and Lazarus’ sister Martha runs to him with a grief-stricken heart. She says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32).
I can relate.
I have uttered the same words over my losses: “Lord, if you had been here, this dream would have come to pass. If you had been here, we wouldn’t be weeping over a gravesite. If you had been here, we wouldn’t be sitting in this sterile hospital room watching pigeons flutter carelessly out the window.”
Tragedy strikes and we grow offended. We tell God if he’s not going to protect us, we’re done living for him.
But what if we have it all wrong?
Jesus isn’t folding his arms and gazing down from heaven to see if we’ll pass some sort of test.
Jesus does this while you weep:
John 11:35 offers the most compelling answer to our question of what Jesus is doing in our deepest pain: “Jesus wept.”
Our loving Father isn’t standing in the distance measuring our faith or lack thereof. He has promised to be with us always. He is closer than you think. And he is weeping with you.
Find consolation in encountering the weeping Savior. He weeps when our hearts are broken and our lives are shattered. He promises to use our pain to make us more like him, but he weeps as we walk with him through the darkest valleys.
2. We remember that this broken world was not God’s original plan.
In the beginning, God created the whole world, and it was good. It is the sinfulness of humanity that ushered in the brokenness that leads to tragedy, loss, death, despair, and pain. We were not created to endure the kind of suffering that this world offers. We were created for pure and unhindered communion with God forever.
God will one day make all of this right. Until then, when gruesome tragedies and unimaginable losses destroy our realities, we can extend grace to our broken hearts. We were never meant to endure this kind of pain. Our minds don’t know what to do with it.
The Lord has promised healing of all things and restoration, and until then, we turn to him and ask for guidance to find healing for the deepest kind of trauma.
3. We can find hope by allowing ourselves to process our emotions with God.
I like to pull myself up by my bootstraps and get onto the next thing. I’d rather ignore my feelings than feel them. If we want the healing light of God’s love to bind our broken hearts, we begin the process by letting ourselves feel whatever it is that we’re sensing.
We don’t shove anger, bitterness, sadness, or despair under a rug and say the brave Christian things that sound impressive to the world. It is important to feel what we feel.
We bring God our broken hearts, and we ask him to fill us with light, love, and healing. We turn to his written Word and find consolation through Psalms and the words of those who have suffered before us.
4. We can find hope in life by reminding ourselves that Christ alone will heal our hearts.
For years, I believed time was the secret to healing my broken heart. I believed the bad breakups, unhealthy relationships, and cycles of habitual sin would be healed with time.
This is where I had it all wrong.
Time is not the great healer.
Jesus is the great Healer.
He offers healing when he invites us to come as we are and meet him at the cross. At the cross, he paid the price for our sins. Jesus took the punishment we all deserve. God poured his wrath on Jesus instead of pouring it on us.
When we come to the cross and receive his gift of rescue, asking for forgiveness and declaring faith in him, he freely embraces us just as we are.
Jesus heals us again and again. He offers healing when our worlds fall apart. He promises to be our portion and our hope, even in the darkest valleys. Our Savior reaches down from on high and pulls us out of the deep waters of despair. And in our most broken moments, he holds us and shares our tears.
There are no easy answers for a week like this. We mourn with those who mourn, even when we can’t begin to wrap our minds around this kind of loss. We trust in the Lord who promises to carry us through the darkest valleys, and we step forward, one slow step at a time.
A Free Devotional for Greater Hope in Life
God is waiting to heal your heart, lift your head, and pull you from your lowest moment. Rays of Light for the Dark Days is your daily guide. This free online devotional will inspire, comfort, and uplift you. Click here and I’ll send it to your email inbox—no strings attached.
These Two Books are Free on Kindle Unlimited as eBooks and Also Available in Print:
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book in eBook form for free on the Kindle Unlimited Plan or for 12.99 in print right here. (You can sign up for a free three-month Kindle Unlimited trial if you are not a member.) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
Calling All Moms and Daughters!
Additionally, my 12-year-old daughter, Bekah, and I wrote a mother-daughter devotional book to help mothers and daughters grow closer together while connecting with God. Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith includes 60 devotions with Scripture, commentaries from both of us, conversation starters, and even a shared journaling section. Multitudes of mothers, daughters, mentors, and younger women are being transformed by this book! You can find this book in eBook form for free on the Kindle Unlimited Plan or buy a print copy for 11.99 right here.
