Matters of the Heart

Today, I am pleased to present a "guest blogger"...my friend, Elisabeth Elliot.

No, Ms. Elliot did not write this specifically at my request, but as I read it last night, I knew in that moment it was meant for me and felt led to post this section from her book, Faith that does not Falter" in its entirety:

Hearts do break. The same hearts are breakable over and over again.

Is there anywhere to turn but to Him who "heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3)? Broken hearts are not new to Him, and His power is limitless, for He is the One who numbers the stars and calls them all by name (v. 4). Have you noticed these two verses that juxtapose God's concern for the wounded and His numbering and naming the stars? His compassion and His power are mentioned together that we might understand that the Lord of the Universe is not so preoccupied with the galaxies that He cannot stoop to minister to our sufferings.

He has a glorious purpose in permitting the heartbreak. We find many clues for this in Scripture. For example:

...that we may be shaped to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29)

...that we may learn to trust (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)

...that we may learn to obey (Psalm 119:67, 71)

...that we may bear fruit (John 15:2)

...that we may reach spiritual maturity (James 1:4)

Our sufferings are not for nothing.

Never.

However small they may be, we may see them as God's mercy in giving us the chance to unite them with His own sufferings. Christ suffered for our sins and we suffer because of the sins of others (and they suffer because of ours). There is a mystery here, far deeper than our understanding, but we may take it on faith, on the authority of the Word, and believe it will not go for nothing.

A broken heart is an acceptable offering to God. He will never despise it. We do not know what unimagined good He can bring about through our simple offering. Christ was swilling to be broken bread for the life of the world. He was poured out like wine. This means He accepted being ground like wheat and crushed likthe grape. It was the hands of the others who did the grinding and crushing. Our small hurts, so infinitely smaller than His, may yet be trustfully surrendered to His transforming work. The trial of faith is a thing worth more than gold.