Encouragement When the Hurt Hurts

Life is messy, life is tough. Each of us experiences disappointment, loss and life altering circumstances.

"Loss is a universal experience. Like physical pain, we know it is real because sooner or later, all of us experience it, explains Gerald Sittser in A Grace Disguised. He should know. In one crushing moment, a drunk driver robbed him of his wife, his mother and his daughter.

Everyone cries and everyone hurts sometimes," sings REM. That is part and parcel of human existence.

"Take comfort in your friends," the song says, but did you ever worry that your burdens might be too heavy for friends to hear? They might walk away...withdraw...and that may be more painful than you can bear.

What do you do when the hurt hurts, when the pain overwhelms, threatening to take you under?

What I do last is what I should do first.

I know God can handle my heart, even when others are afraid of my pain.

"Whom have I in heaven but you? My heart and flesh may fail but GOD is the strength of my heart forever." Psalm 73:25

He never leaves.
He always listens.
He is Love.