Sometimes the hurt overcomes the hope, even for us who follow Jesus.

In this season, the pain in my heart is deeper than it has ever been. I am broken. And it’s not all my pain. So many close to me are hurting, and I hurt with them.

But what do I say as I hurt with the hurting? I don’t have the answers. 

• To the young person who wonders where was God when he was abused by the ones who should have loved him most?

• To the man who knows he is twisting the knife in his own chest with the bitterness he is holding but can’t figure out how to pull it out?

• To the daughter caught between seeking independence and pleasing the parents she loves?

• To the teen begging God to take away destructive sinful desires but turning to them again and again?

• To the boy haunted by thoughts of depression and suicide because hope for the future is fading?

• To the mother who feels lonely and rejected by the child whom she has and would give her life for?

• To the ones who struggle with mental illness and fear losing their minds?

• To the parent who is afraid of losing their child’s heart for good but fears it’s too late to repair mend the tear between?

• To the child rejected by birth parents and still learning how to love and be loved?

• To the wife giving in to despair as her husband chooses drugs over family once again?

• To the father striving to protect his child from him or herself?

• To the man trying to hold on to faith while sitting in a hospital room or a jail cell —  again?

• To the addict ashamed to enter one more rehab program?

• To the Christian struggling to live out his faith and feeling like a hypocrite when he is proved to be human?

Oh, and so many more!

Oh, God, what do you expect from me? What else can I do? I am failing them!

I’ve been working so hard to try to be what they need. To listen carefully and with understanding, to share the right words and scriptures, to give the needed admonition, encouragement, and advice. To share hard truth, yet in love. To fight hard enough, to believe strong enough. 

But I fail so much. I fall short. 

I say the wrong thing.

Or the right thing at the wrong time.

Or too much

Or not enough. 

And when I think maybe I helped a little, things fall apart even more. 

I am not enough.

Then those hurting souls say, either out loud or in their hearts, “I don’t know if Jesus is enough.” 

And I begin to wonder, too. My heart doubts. Can the hurting hearts count on Him? 

Can my heart that breaks with them, for them, for myself, truly know He works all things for good (Romas 8:28)? Can He really work through this? 

Bring healing, comfort, understanding, softened hearts, true forgiveness, 2nd,-3rd-48th chances, peace, grace, unconditional love?

Our Father gives hope to hurting hearts.

My Father will bring me back to hope. Always. 

Through His word, through music that ministers to my soul, through reminding me Who He is and of all His promises.

He always does. He always bring back that glimmer of hope and grace needed for each moment as it comes.

He’ll remind me . . .

• He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

• He has born our grief and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4)

• All my tears are in His bottle (Psalm 56:8).

• He is the God who Sees (Genesis 16:13).

• He will never leave nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).

• He lives to intercede for me (Hebrews 7:25).

• He is working all things together for good (Romans 8:28).

• His Spirit prays when I don’t have words (Romans 8:26).

I’ll remember. 

Then, for those hurting hearts around me . . .

I’ll point them to Jesus, to His Word, to faith without sight. I’ll remember He really is enough, and I’ll remind them that He still is enough even when we can’t see it. 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

I may still feel like a failure as a wife, mother, friend, minister, daughter, sister, and more. I am broken. But the great Healer and Comforter of my soul —He still uses broken people and mends broken hearts.

He never fails.

I must only be faithful, not perfectly so. Because even when we are faithless, He is faithful, because He cannot deny Who He is (2Timothy 2:13).

Remember, dear child of God, Jesus is enough.

When you are overwhelmed by the hurt all around you, how does Jesus bring you comfort? How do you share that comfort to bring hope to help the hurting hearts of those you love? Please share in the comments.