Close to the Brokenhearted: Grow Closer to God After a Breakup

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30

Weary and Burdened

A broken heart is draining. Your emotions are fragile, and you’re just trying to make it through each day without falling to pieces. Then, you find yourself carrying the weight of emotional stress, the weight of worry, the weight of memories, and possibly the weight of sin. All this weight is heavy, and it burdens you. It makes you weary, and it makes you feel like you can’t go on. But what if I told you that you can definitely go on? And not just go on, but you can find peace and rest. There is rest waiting for you in the arms of Jesus. If you are weary and burdened, He is calling you to Himself. He is longing to give you rest.

A yoke is what farmers use to tie livestock together, like oxen. In order to go anywhere successfully, they must move synchronously. Jesus is calling you to be yoked to Him. Then, you will be able to move in sync with Him, taking all the right steps. Jesus is full of wisdom, so He’s calling you to learn from Him. Sit at the feet of Jesus, and soak up all the wisdom He is offering you. Read His Word, and let Him speak to you through the Holy Spirit.

Having a broken heart can leave you hurt, broken, and confused. Imagine having peace again, being whole again, and having a sound mind again. The opportunity to learn from Jesus is the opportunity to learn the right way to live that will be pleasing to the Father. It’s an opportunity to make good and right decisions so that you can live your best, blessed life. Don’t miss this opportunity. If you are weary and burdened, He is calling you specifically. He’s telling you that He has something, especially for you. All you have to do is sit at His feet and learn from Him and yoke yourself with Him and go where He leads you. Make the decision today to run to the arms of Jesus, so you can find everything you need.

Declare: I don’t want to be weary and burdened anymore. I am running into the arms of Jesus. I find peace and rest as I sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from Him. I am yoked with Jesus, and I move with Him as He moves. I am on the right path now.

Scripture: Isaiah 41:10

God Will Strengthen You

During tough seasons it’s hard to muster up the strength to move, to complete day to day tasks, or continue walking in your God-given assignment. Dealing with heartache can be daunting and discouraging. It can also make you fearful of trusting again or fearful of the future. But in His Word, God is telling us not to be afraid or discouraged because He is with us. When He says this, He does not give any exceptions. He does not say, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you except when your heart has been broken.” He gives no exclusion; even in the most painful situations, He is with us. He is our God. That is good news, my friend, because God is the only one who can give us strength when we have none.

Speaking from a person who dealt with heartbreak, my parents couldn’t give me strength; my brothers or sister couldn’t give me strength; my closest friend couldn’t give me strength. I had to put my trust in God and look to Him for the strength I needed. And in Him, we are always victorious because He is always victorious. We are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). God will give you the strength to overcome this situation. You can walk through this season of your life and come out with victory if you allow God to walk with you.

How do you do this, you ask? You make good small decisions every day. Make the decision to pray every day. Make a decision to find at least one thing to be thankful for every day. Make the decision to meditate on scripture and not what happened to you everyday. If you do these things, you will find God’s strength swelling up inside of you.

Declare: I am not discouraged because you are my God. I am not afraid because you are with me. When I am down and weak, I find my strength in you. I will overcome this heartbreak because your victorious right hand holds me up in this season of my life.

Scripture: Luke 5:5

Even When It Doesn’t Make Sense

Do you ever feel like the Spirit is leading you to do something that just doesn’t make sense? I mean, you have examined the situation very well, and from your vantage point, the Spirit is leading you in the completely wrong direction. So you ask yourself, “What do I do?” Remember that our vantage point is eye level and limited. Though it looks one way from where we stand, it looks completely different when looking down. In fact, the better view is looking down because more can be seen. Unfortunately, we can’t really switch our vantage point, so we rely on the vantage point of the one with the best view.

In today’s scripture, Peter had a limited vantage point. All he knew was what he just went through. He knew that he and his partners toiled all night and came back empty handed. Does that sound familiar? You put your all into that relationship, yet he still walked away from you. Peter was tired, busted, and disgusted. Does that sound familiar too? Relationship after relationship and yet you’re still alone and unfulfilled.

The key for Peter was having Jesus with Him. It changed everything for Peter. And this is the key for you too! The key is not to give up. Instead, get instructions from God, obey the instructions, and take Him with you every step of the way. At this time, Peter was not yet a disciple of Jesus, so he may have heard of Jesus, but he didn’t really know Jesus yet. But I bet something nudged his spirit to obey. But it’s different for you and me because we know Jesus. We know who He is and what He has done. We know we can trust Him. So if He leads you to a certain place and puts your eyes on a certain person, trust His leading. If He tells you to leave the dating scene for a while to get away with just Him, trust His leading. If He tells you to leave the best relationship you’ve ever had, even if it doesn’t make sense, trust His leading. When we obey God even when it doesn’t make sense, that’s where we find the greatest blessings because often, it’s the things we never saw coming.

Declare: Whatever you tell me to do, God, I will do. Whatever you tell me to say, God, I will say. Wherever you tell me to go, God, I will go. I will obey You even when it doesn’t make sense.

Scripture: Matthew 7:9-11

He’s a Good Good Father

Those of us who have children try to be the very best parents we can to them. We do our best to provide their needs and their desires as well. I personally could not imagine my child asking me for bread and me giving her a stone or her asking me for fish and me giving her a snake. I was born into sin, and I am imperfect; yet I still couldn’t imagine me treating my child that way.

Now we serve a perfect God. There is no sin in Him whatsoever. He is perfect, and He is a loving Father. Therefore, he would not dare treat us worse than we would treat our own children. God loves us, so we don’t have to be afraid to ask Him for what we desire. He loves to pour out His blessings on us. However, just like we as earthly parents wouldn’t purposely give our children anything that would harm them or isn’t good for them, the same is true for God. A knife may look harmless to my one-year-old, but she can hurt herself and/or others. She loves bananas; and although bananas in themselves are not bad, consuming too many at once can be harmful down the line. However, she doesn’t know that. All she knows is that she likes bananas, and she wants to eat them all the time. The same is true with our relationship with God. He will keep us away from those things that are blatantly bad for everyone. However, He will also keep things from us that are not bad in themselves but can cause harmful effects down the line.

Sis, God is not trying to keep love, marriage, and a family from you. Those things in themselves are not bad. However, with the wrong person and at the wrong time, those things can cause harm down the line. Know that God is a better parent than any parent you had experience with here on earth, and He does not desire to keep good things from us. Accept God’s will and His guidance. Everything will happen in His perfect timing.

Declare: God is my amazing Father. He’s better to me than anyone on this earth has ever been. I accept the direction that He has given me in life. I know that He won’t hold any good thing from me. God will give me the desires of my heart in His perfect timing.

Scripture: John 4:23

True Worship, Part 1

In a few verses before this one, the Samaritan woman tried to engage Jesus in a conversation about where to worship, saying the Jews worshiped in one place while the Samaritans worshiped in another. Jesus basically told her that where they worshiped was not as important as how they worshiped.

What is your attitude of worship? What is at the heart of your worship? Jesus said that the Father is looking for people who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth. I read this so many times without really knowing what it meant, but I feel like God gave me some revelation about it during my season of heartbreak that could help you.

Worshiping God in Spirit is when we allow the Holy Spirit to really lead us in worship. When we worship in Spirit, we show a holy reverence for God. We are truly just worshiping Him for who He is. We let go of whatever we are dealing with and completely surrender in that moment. Quite honestly, I thought that’s all there was to worship, the spiritual part. I didn’t understand the truth part. I didn’t understand just being me in Worship. Sadly, I thought I had to become someone else to worship God “properly.” Therefore, when I felt really broken and vulnerable, I felt like I couldn’t worship God because I couldn’t let my spirit rise up. However, when God taught me what worshiping Him in truth really entails, I found it freeing; and I think you will too. Let’s talk about the truth part tomorrow.

Declare: I reverence God, and I treat Him holy. I exalt Him above my situation because He’s bigger than anything I’m going through. As I go through each day, I take time to worship God no matter where I am because He is worthy.

Scripture: John 4:23

True Worship, Part 2

Have you ever started crying while you were worshiping or even entered worship in tears? When we worship God in truth, we’re bringing all of who we are to God and laying it at His feet. Worshiping, in truth, is a state of real vulnerability before God. We’re bringing our brokenness, our hurt, our mistakes, and every other imperfect thing and laying it all at His feet. We can cry and lay out before God and let our raw emotions loose in worship to Him.

To worship God in truth is not only worshiping Him from our spirits but also from our souls. So worshiping in Spirit and in truth encompasses all of us. It means that we worship God with everything within us. We do not have to shy away from worshiping God when we feel broken. In fact, God wants us to bring that brokenness to Him. When we come into God’s presence broken, we leave whole.

I can’t tell you how many times I went into God’s presence hurting and came out healed. When we go before God saying, “What I’m going through really hurts, and I can’t make it on my own. God, I know you can help me. You are all powerful. I give you this burden because I can’t carry it anymore.” Then you lay that thing down as a sacrifice to God. Do you know how great that makes God feel, for Him to know that you trust Him with your pain; and you trust Him to heal and restore you? It is what He desired all along.

So don’t think that your worship has to look a certain type of way. You just have to have a heart of faith and surrender towards God and reverence Him in His presence. All you have to do is bring the Holy Spirit and your truth.

Declare: I let my guard down in the presence of God. I also bring all the broken parts of me, and I lay them at His feet. He knows exactly what to do with them. I find healing and restoration in God’s presence when I bring my truth to Him in worship.