Heart Balm

bro·ken·heart·ed : overcome by grief or despair

com·fort : to give strength and hope to

We have all, at some point in our lives, suffered from a broken heart. Rare is the person who can say that they haven’t. Although, I would be slow to believe such a statement.

The anguish of being truly broken hearted is a pain unlike any other. I cannot think of one thing to compare it to. It is the worst feeling in the world. There is heaviness in my chest and in the pit of my stomach that I cannot quite explain.

Having a broken heart is often accompanied by many, many tears and perhaps some sleepless nights. To sum it up: It is misery.

What breaks our hearts? It varies from heart to heart. Humans are not the same. We are not carbon copies. Death of a loved one can break our hearts, the loss of a beloved pet, losing a friend (there are many ways that that occurs), dreams left unfulfilled, loneliness, unrequited love, the loss of a mate.

There are so many ways that a broken heart can manifest. When you stop to think about it—we are so arrogant sometimes and think we are so “strong” when actually, we are pretty fragile. Any strength we have comes not from ourselves. It never will. Any sense of strength we have comes from the Lord, I am sure of it.

So, how do we handle having a broken heart? When we feel in despair, it is so easy for us to question God isn’t it? Maybe we begin to wonder where he is. Where is our redeemer and our strong defender? It is so easy to start taking steps backward and sliding down that slippery slope that separates us from God. We begin to think that we are alone. We feel alone. We feel helpless. It is terrible.

I want to take a look at some scripture that talks about our broken hearts. I wanted to look at some scripture about comfort also. The following scriptures come out of the King James Version.

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Psalm 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

Psalm 71:21 Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.


2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

So, if we look to the definitions above of broken hearted and comfort, we see in what opposition the meaning of those words are. When we read our bible, we will come across the theme of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit giving comfort to the broken hearted.

So, if you are suffering with a broken heart of any kind, from any source, I know it is hard. Believe me, I know, but, lift your head because love is coming.

The scripture I have for myself is:

Psalm 25:1 Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.