Help for the Hurting Heart

Because of what I shared here on Monday, I wanted to follow up with some encouragement for those who are currently experiencing brokenness and are “feeling the feels” today.  Know this – God loves you and there is help to be found in Him.

Please feel free to share and print this graphic.
Please feel free to share and print this graphic.

Brokenness & Butterflies

Photo Credit: Kathy King Capehart
Photo Credit: Kathy King Capehart

The butterfly emerged as the symbol of the Women’s Retreat I helped plan last year.  Our theme was brokenness and the butterfly’s life cycle beautifully illustrated that.

Some types of brokenness are like the caterpillar who molts, or sheds its skin and grows from the experience into a larger caterpillar who will at some point be broken again and grow from the experience into yet a larger caterpillar who will at some point be broken again…and again…and again. For a caterpillar, this is called molting. For all of us, this is called life. Experiencing this kind of brokenness is as universal to human beings as it is to that growing little caterpillar – a failed test in school; not getting that promotion at work; hurtful gossip whispered behind your back; feeling excluded from a group that you desperately want to fit into; unreturned romantic feelings…

There comes a point in every caterpillar’s life when it will go through something it has never gone through before! Instead of the brokenness it is used to experiencing in its life, it won’t be able to struggle through it and come out on the other side a bigger, better version of itself. Instead, it will become completely enveloped; it will be penned in, immobilized by something beyond his control, entombed. If you asked the fat little caterpillar if it would choose to be entombed in the chrysalis, it would undoubtedly say ‘No!’ It would prefer to keep to its cycle of manageable brokenness. It was used to it. While it caused it pain, it could handle it and it was bigger and stronger on the other side of it. This new thing, this new brokenness, is confining, painful, scary. Unknown and unsearched for, it is woefully beyond the butterfly’s management and personal control. It feels alone, unable to see outside its own pain.

Many of us have experienced these immobilizing types of brokenness – widowhood; divorce; miscarriage; cancer; long-term unemployment; depression; wayward children. Like the caterpillar inside its chrysalis, we were morphed and changed into something new altogether. We were transformed through that painful process and finally broke free, becoming unshackled from the constraints of life as a mere caterpillar to soar on the heights as a new creation, a beautiful butterfly.

Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory.
They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.
(1 Corinthians 15:43 NLT)

Perhaps you have felt that type of brokenness, but haven’t yet emerged from your confining chrysalis. You haven’t experienced a breaking free moment and the pain is all you can focus upon right now.

Research verses that speak to your brokenness. Compile a list like the one here. Highlight them in your Bible. Use them as prayer prompts until you are raised in strength like that broken butterfly.

You are loved, beautifully broken friend, and there is hope to be found in Jesus.

 

 

 

 

Books for the Brokenhearted

My desk during the Lenten season - a depository of books on brokenness.
My desk during the Lenten season – a depository of books on brokenness and trusting God.

If you’re in a season of Crying Out to God, here are some tried-and-true resources to encourage your heart & help you gain perspective in the trenches.  Perhaps they can help you, too, to learn to praise God even as you cry out. (Click on the book covers to read more about each title at Amazon.com – affiliate links.)

This continues to be the most meaningful book I've read on the topic of brokenness.
The Blessings of Brokenness continues to be the most meaningful book I’ve read on the topic of brokenness, and for that reason, if you only read one book on the topic, pick this one.
Since The Blessings of Brokenness touched my heart in such a special way, I wanted to ready more from Dr. Stanley. For that reason, this gem is my current read through Lent.
Since The Blessings of Brokenness touched my heart in such a special way, I wanted to read more from Dr. Stanley. For that reason, this gem is my current read through Lent.

 

This was the first book I ever read on the topic of trusting God with our hurts - 25 years ago! - and it's as applicable today as it was then. Highly recommend if, like me, you struggle with the issue of wholehearted trust.
This was the first book I ever read on the topic of trusting God with our hurts – 25 years ago! – and it’s as applicable today as it was then. Highly recommend if, like me, you struggle with the issue of wholehearted trust.
A must-have companion to Trusting God (Even When Life Hurts). Trust me. You won't regret getting the study guide with its stellar prompts, additional Scripture, action items and more. I still have mine all these years later. It's pages are where the rubber met the road for me.
A must-have companion to Trusting God (Even When Life Hurts). Trust me. You won’t regret getting the study guide. I still have mine all these years later. It’s pages are where the rubber met the road for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're looking for purpose and redemption in your brokenness, the book is for you. The subtitle says it all - How God Redeems Pain & Suffering.
If you’re looking for purpose and redemption in your brokenness, this book is for you. The subtitle says it all – How God Redeems Pain & Suffering.
Part of the Revive Our Hearts Series, this book is a popular shelf item in church libraries. I recommend checking yours.
Part of the Revive Our Hearts Series, this book is a popular shelf item in church libraries. I recommend checking yours.