What Breaks Your Heart May Also Lead You Home.

Someone asked me recently what breaks your heart? The saying may not be new to many but when asked it is difficult to pinpoint a response. Seeing people homeless breaks my heart. Seeing people struggle breaks my heart. Seeing family owned businesses close after years and years in a community breaks my heart. Hearing people’s stories of trial breaks my heart. Watching others struggle at work, at home, in school, with purpose breaks my heart. How could one ever answer this question with a simple response?

Then it came to me. Seeing hurting people breaks my heart. Whether they are hurting from job loss, or loss of family, loss of a business, loss of a home or loss of purpose. When I open my eyes and ears to the stories of others experiencing loss it breaks my heart. I want to help them. Rather it is by providing a shoulder to cry on or a meal for their family or an ear to listen I want to be there.

This can be a blessing and a curse sometimes. Even though we can reach out to help we also have to realize sometimes we can’t always pick up the pieces for others. We can’t always “fix” the problem. We may want to. We may look for any way possible but we also must rely on God. We can do our part but when people allow the hurt and loss to consume them over and over we have to rely on God to take them the next step.

This is truly hard for someone like me. I listened this week to a 79-year-old women tell me about the business she is struggling to keep afloat and it broke my heart. I wanted to give her the money to keep it going. I wanted the community to band together and take care of her and they are. But I also had to remember that we can help them along for a few more weeks, or months or years but what really is needed? What else might be going on here? Maybe it is for them to let go. Maybe it is for them to reevaluate. Maybe it is for them to refresh.

Maybe just maybe we offer our hand and let God handle the rest. Sometimes hurting people just need more than I alone can offer.

This reminds me of a song I heard by Molly Kate Kestner and I still love the original version that shows the true feeling in the words: His Daughter

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