Healing a Broken Heart

A compilation

The dictionary defines heartbreak as “crushing grief, anguish, or distress.” … The events in Job’s life may be the earliest biblical record of heartbreak. In one day Job lost his children, almost all worldly possessions, his health, and his means of livelihood. What was Job’s response? “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD’” (Job 1:20–21). Job grieved. Yet, he … learned what all believers can learn through heartbreak—God is faithful and good and trustworthy.

David, a man after God’s own heart, suffered many heartbreaking circumstances. ... Psalm 34 gives an example of how David overcame heartbreak by calling on the Lord. Notice the first step: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). David knew “the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). …

One might ask in a moment of despair, “He may have helped David, but does God care about me?” The answer is He absolutely does! … He will not fail the heartbroken Christian who cries out to Him today. He may not always answer exactly in the way we would like, but He answers according to His perfect will and timing and, while we are waiting for the answer, His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9).—GotQuestions.org¹

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My father abandoned his wife and four children when I was young. I never saw him and never heard from him, and until I was 18 I believed he was dead. When Aunt Emma, my father’s sister, told me he was alive, I was astonished. I gave her my graduation picture to give to him, and hoped he would contact me. He never did.

Later, when I committed my life to Jesus, I developed a relationship with Him and knew His love. Yet I was afraid of God the Father. Knowing Him as a tender and loving Father seemed impossible.

One day I learned that my father had died. My deepest prayer to meet him would not be fulfilled. I felt an enormous hurt and visited Aunt Emma. She told me a little about his life and death, and said he decided not to see me because he was too ashamed of his behavior as a young father. He must have known, through her, that for 17 years I had asked about him.

I stood near his grave engulfed in anguish. My search was over. This was as close as I would ever get to my father. I cried out to God, “It’s too late, too late! I have no father!”

At that point I heard a voice say, “I am your Father.” I turned around, but no one was there. Again, I heard the words, this time softer. “I am your Father.” It was hard to believe at first, but the God I had feared spoke to me. I felt His love surround me. Because God revealed Himself to me as Father, I no longer feel the hurt of an abandoned child, nor the pain from my fruitless search. I was healed so that only the memory and none of the pain remains.

That afternoon in the lonely cemetery changed my life. Where God was once only a remote figure of the Trinity, He is now the Father I talk with, walk with, and praise each day. I realize this wonderful Father loves all His children so much that He awaits the day that He can draw us close to Himself forever.—Robert DeGrandis²

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Broken relationships, disappointment in others, loss of a job, an unfulfilled dream, or other dire circumstances can cause heartbreak, and the pain can feel overwhelming. …

Perhaps the most consistent solution society gives to deal with heartache is time. Time will help, but believers in Jesus don’t have to simply wait in order to find any relief for the pain of heartbreak. We can go to God with our broken hearts and find comfort. … God truly does care, and He truly is amazing. Remembering this, and turning to God, can be a balm to our heartache. …

The fallen nature of our world means we live with disappointments and hurts. But we need not despair! God has said that He “will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). God can comfort you (2 Corinthians 1:3–4). … Instead of succumbing to the hopeless feeling that may accompany our broken hearts, we can use heartbreak to remind us that only God can truly fulfill and meet our deepest needs. Let your heartbreak drive you to God, where you will find unfathomable love.

Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 56:8 tells us that God keeps account of our tears. It is okay to be hurt and to share your heartbreak with God. Pour it out to Him; then trust Him to comfort you. Life is not over; God is at work, and He is faithful to complete His good work in you (Philippians 1:6).—CompellingTruth.org³

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When I look back at the crossroads in my life—times when things seemed to have taken a wrong turn or my plans and goals were dealt a severe blow—I realize that my faith played a major role and helped me to weather the heartbreak and adverse circumstances and challenges.

Since I’ve worked as a missionary for four decades, mostly doing community and volunteer service in foreign lands, faith has naturally been a driving force in my work and private life. I learned to trust that whatever the problem, there was light at the end of the tunnel and a ray of hope.

When my second baby was born two months premature with underdeveloped lungs and a weak heartbeat, I was devastated. Doctors doubted his chances for a normal healthy life, and he was placed in an incubator for a month. The fear of losing my baby almost choked me, but as I clung to faith, he and I both made it through the long wait before his release from the hospital with the necessary weight gain and a clean bill of health. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:1,6).

The loss of a child to leukemia after a two-year stretch of chemotherapy in 2003 brought me to the brink of despair. Faith accompanied me on the road of suffering and loss until I could arrive at a better place. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

Feeling powerless to help a loved one’s long struggle with drug addiction, and witnessing the resulting problems in his marriage and professional life, was heartbreaking. Faith gave me hope when all seemed hopeless and strength to believe the battle could be won. “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).

In the years since 1995 that I have been working on the African continent, with all its insecurity and poverty, my faith has been a shield. It’s given me courage and endurance to hang on during times when things don’t make sense or when energy and resolve wear thin. “No unbelief made him [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20–21).

Again and again, faith in God has made adverse circumstances manageable, happiness tangible, disappointments bearable, loss endurable, and given me the assurance that the sun will always shine again.—Iris Richard

Published on Anchor October 2024. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso. Music by Michael Dooley.

Posted in: audio, comfort, compilation, faith, relationship with the lord

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