Troubled Hearts

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."  John 14:27 (NIV)

As each day passes, the images of this world break my heart.  Whether it is what I see on TV, what I hear from people, or what I view as I walk through this life, it is painful.  The most recent images of Syria make me cry.  As I hit the mall and see people screaming at each other, I can't help but question the motives.  As I hear about disturbing actions, it produces a troubled heart.  Tomorrow is the Boston Marathon and in New England, the troubled events of a few years ago become painful memories of the trouble in this world.

I thought the image above so accurately depicts that trouble - all of these actions leading to anxiety, panic, stress, depression, anger, frustration - the list goes on and on.  It is hard to not be afraid as we live in a broken world.  It is tough to when we ask "Why God?" and don't seem to get any answers.  What does our dear Lord bring to us as we experience these difficult times in our lives?  How I wish He would come down and hold my hand, sharing with me that it will be okay and life can be healed.

Although He may not be here to hold my hand, He is with me, He is with us!!  We feel Him as a friend or family member holds our hand during our pain.  He is with us through the Holy Spirit - when we can't see the end of the tunnel and a miracle happens in front of our eyes.  He is with us when we feel despair, and a small light brings us to hope.  He is with us in the words of The Bible, the words of a prayer, the words of a hymn or song, or the words of someone speaking to us.  

Each one of us has experienced, is experiencing, or will experience something that brings trouble to our hearts.  Although we may not fully understand the "why" these things happen, we do know that our turn to God will bring us peace.  Yet, the only way we can fully experience that peace is if we relinquish our pain to God.  Our worry, our pain, our despair, and our hurt is what God wants us to give Him!  This doesn't mean that we "throw it over the wall" and then we will never think about it.  Life doesn't work that way.  Forgetting is so hard to do.  The peace comes with letting the pain go, letting the anguish go.  The best way we can do that is through conversation with the only One that can truly understand our hearts - God.  When we give it to Him, he will work with us to bring us peace.

My prayer, for all that are reading, is that whatever you may be going through that is troubling your heart, give it to God.  Let Him have your troubled heart.  Let Him feel your pain.  Let Him begin the healing in your life.  Let Him bring you peace.  You won't find the peace to heal your heart in anything of this world - only God can give you that peace.  

Dearest Lord, please be with this world.  All of us have experiences that leave us with troubled hearts - full of worry, anxiety, doubt, fear, and anger.  Please, take our hearts, Jesus.  Take the troubles away from us and fill our hearts with peace and hope.  Take our frustrations and fill us with the peace that passes all understanding - as only you can do.  In your gracious name we pray, Amen!