We all sat cross-legged in the living room laughing and catching up after too many months. Let me just get this out there so we can go on to happier news, she began. Then it came pouring out. What she’d been holding in for almost two months. The devastation he had wreaked. How it had all come out. Years of lies… I don’t know who I am. My confidence is gone.
We started out talking about work. Lots of big changes and challenging career relationships made things harder than ever. He just left. Wanted to reinvent himself. What do Christmas cards look like now? I thought I’d achieved my dreams, now what?
Dreams are unique and personal.
But we don’t achieve them alone. We can’t.
And when one of your pillars crumbles, or the foundation has cracked down the middle, you find yourself sitting in the rubble.
What do you do when you, or those closest to you, are crushed? When you feel like your future has been stolen?
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
There are no easy answers. There are no quick repairs.
I remember sitting in tears on the floor of my grandparents bathroom after my parents marriage disintegrated. A church destroyed. A town stunned. The cold marble floor was the only thing not moving underneath me.
I’ve sat with dear friends these past few weeks in search of something to say as their heartbreak was whispered in quiet corners.
Dear dreamer, if your marriage is falling apart in front of your eyes, or has crumbled after an earthquake you never saw coming, might I dare to speak into your hurt? Because I don’t have the words, I give you His:
1. You are loved.
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again, and you will be rebuilt. Jeremiah 31:3-4
It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. 1 Thessalonians 1:4 (MSG)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ… Ephesians 3:16-18
2. He still has works and plans and dreams for you.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
3. Take time to heal. He is there.
[The Lord] has sent me to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
4. You are a conqueror. You will come out on the other side of this.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. 2 Chronicles 32: 7-8
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. I John 4:4
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:33-37
We love you.
Let us know if we can be praying for you.
And an invitation to all dreamers: We hope you will join us for our spring book club in March as we walk through Alli Worthington’s new book, Breaking Busy.
Photo Courtesy of Global Table Adventure
Shared by: Gindi Vincent