Hope3 for the Hurting Heart

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again- my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42: 5, Psalm 42:11, Psalm 43:5

Have you ever had to repeat yourself to your kids? Maybe they were not listening the first time. Perhaps you repeated yourself because you did not want them to miss what you said. The truth in your words was too important to forget. This is what happens in Psalms 42-43. The exact same words are repeated three times in three different verses: Psalm 42:5, Psalm 42:11, Psalm 43:5

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again- my Savior and my God.”

Are you feeling discouraged over life’s circumstances? Maybe you’re feeling heartbroken from a situation in your marriage or a choice your child made. Perhaps you are grieving the death of a loved one or a doctor’s diagnosis. These unexpected storms leave us feeling heartbroken, discouraged, and even hopeless.

God understands our feelings. He knew we would need to remember an important truth as we walked through these storms, so He had the Psalmist repeat it three times in two chapters of Psalms.

Put your HOPE in God in the midst of the storm.

What does this practically look like? Using the acronym HOPE, I share 4 action steps to help you find hope for your hurting heart.

Honestly Run to God in your Pain.

When your world is turned upside down, you have two choices: you can run to God in the middle of your pain or you can run away from God. Psalm 34:18 says God is close to the broken-hearted; He is faithful to guide you through any storm you are facing.

Open Your Spiritual Eyes.

God is always working even when you cannot see it, so ask God to give you eyes to see His perspective. Shift your eyes off the problem and fix them on God, trusting He has a bigger plan than what you see right now.

Persevere in Faith.

Persevering is finding purpose in the pain. It is believing that God is developing your character in the middle of the storm and trusting that God has a good plan even when you don’t understand. Perhaps you can even praise God in the middle of the storm like the verse suggests.

Encourage Another Hurting Heart by Sharing Your Story.

Someone will walk through the same hard circumstances you have experienced, and you can change their trajectory by offering them encouragement and hope through the story of how God met you in your pain.

This is not easy, which is why God had the Psalmist pen it three times. This is not because we were not listening the first time, but because these truths are so essential that He did not want us to forget, especially in the middle of the storm.

If you are in grief or heartbreak, I pray you can put your HOPE in God by daily running to Him, asking for His perspective, trusting His plans, and one day sharing God’s faithfulness to another hurting heart.

Love, Jodi

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