Healing the heart: Letting go of Why

In my previous post I discussed that God can and will both heal and use the wounding experience for great good as we cling to Him. I discussed one biblical and historical character, Joseph son of Jacob, because his life is an incredible example. There are several others in the Scriptures...which is easy to understand since many of these great men and women of God earned their commendation from God because of their obedience and faith in Him through trials.

Today I intended to write about some specific blessings that can come from the experience of healing a broken heart, but I realize that this topic brings up an important question for all of us that should at least be touched upon before going any further: Is God responsible for our heartaches and suffering? This is actually related to the age old question of 'If God is good why does He allow suffering?'

Lengthy theological debates have been engaged and books written on the subject of suffering, and especially about why the innocent or godly suffer. At the risk of being overly simple but so as to not take up an issue which is not the intent of these series of posts, I will only say that eternity will unravel and disclose all. Many life shattering events are simply the result of living in a fallen world, with fallen people and evil spirits at work, as well as the poor choices and rebellion of ourselves and others. God is clearly powerful enough to stop, prevent or change any painful situation, but we also exercise choice and are subject to the choices of others. We do not understand God's ways or thoughts which are higher than ours (Isa. 55:9) but we do know that He has promised to work all things together for good to those who are His.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

This promise has been proven in the lives of saints of God who have gone on before us, even those such as Job who was more severely tested than any of us will ever be in such a short space of time and who was made an example of God's power and mercy and unsearchable wisdom (Job 42; James 5:11).

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
James 5:11

Pain comes to everyone. It is virtually promised for a believer and is a tool for our refinement (2 Tim. 3:12; Rom. 5:3-4). We are never to go looking for it, and we should certainly never be the cause of it on account of deliberate sin (1 Pet. 4:15-16; 1 Pet. 3:13-17). The pain we endure and are refined by will always be used to bring glory to God, and often fits us to be faithful and effective instruments of the gospel of Christ to bring salvation, deliverance and healing into the lives of others. Again, examples in the lives of past and present day saints abound, but we need look no further than Jesus Christ. God did not spare His own Son, but give Him up for us all (Rom 8:32).

All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin...
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:6,10,12

Many of us want to be used of God, but few anticipate the wounding that may be used to fit us for that service. Many of us sincerely want to grow in godliness, but few expect or admit that suffering is the best tool to do a deep and lasting work in our character. We may have already met someone who has not seemed to learn from the experience of suffering and instead becomes bitter, hard, and void of compassion for others. It's a curious but sad thing how two people can undergo comparable tragedy and one be more brilliant after it, and the other become angry and harsh. One person will hold on to the clear records of the past faithfulness and goodness of God in a trying time, while the other person will act, think and speak as if God had been nothing but an evil task master all their life on account of one series of trials. On the one hand we have Job, Joseph, David, Ruth. On the other hand we have Cain, Saul, Absalom, and Judas. One group humbled by suffering and correction. The other refusing to lay themselves low before God and His authority.  

There is a reward for the righteous. But there are things we will experience which we may never even see the usefulness or purpose of, while on this side of eternity. It will always come back to walking by faith and trusting God. Do you believe that God is all-wise, that He is all-powerful, that He has a bigger purpose and perspective, that He loves you? He tells us all this and more in His word and it is up to us to choose to believe Him. In my experience, and I believe many of you will bear witness, healing the heart often begins with laying down our Why questions (especially "Why me?"), and letting go the need for an answer. In other cases, where we believe we know the answer or lay the blame squarely on our own shoulders for our choices, we still need to begin by acknowledging the reasons (with repentance if necessary) and then, let go of it to God, trusting Him to work it together for good. We will begin to heal when we let go and instead invest our broken heart into knowing God more and trusting Him more fully. In upcoming related posts I will share how the fragrance of Christ seemed to begin to pour into and flow out from my life when I did just that.

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

Job 13:15a

This is the first post in a series called Healing the Heart. You can find a link to all the posts in the sidebar under labels, or just click here. If using this link be sure to read from the bottom up because they were posted in a specific order to be most useful to you!