Read: Psalm 34:15-18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted. (v. 18)
At any given moment, at least one song (if not several) at the top of the Billboard charts is about love gone wrong. Songs about unrequited love and broken hearts are ubiquitous because they speak to a universal aspect of human existence: sorrow. Everyone wants to be loved, and there’s something seductive about dwelling on the pain of love lost.
In John 11, Jesus receives word that his dear friend, Lazarus, had died. Oddly, instead of rushing to be with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, Jesus waits two days longer before hitting the road (v. 6). Upon arriving in town, Martha rushes out to meet Jesus, and you can hear the hurt in her voice: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 21). Jesus was moved by their pain to the point of weeping, but his final response was not one of failure. Instead, he uses the experience to provide Martha with an object lesson in theology: the resurrection was not just an event to look forward to, but also the person standing there in front of her. Jesus calls Lazarus forth from the dead as an indication of his power over death.
If heartache has not visited our lives yet, it will at some point. But what a comfort it is to know that our Lord is close to the brokenhearted and moved by our pain. And, more than that, he has the power to heal our broken hearts. —Duane T. Loynes Sr.
As you pray, trust God with your brokenness.
About the Author
Dr. Duane T. Loynes Sr. is a professor of Urban Studies and Africana Studies at Rhodes College. He resides in Memphis, Tennessee, with his wife Ericka and their son Duane Jr., and is an active member of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
