How to Have Hope Even When Your Heart Hurts

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Do you ever have trouble expressing your emotions? Is it hard for you to share your feelings when your heart hurts?

It can be especially hard to deal with sadness during the holidays. There seems to be the unspoken message that we’re all supposed to be filled with peace, joy, and twinkle lights.

But many of us are heavy-hearted as we think about the people we miss … those who are absent by death, distance, or choice. 

Everyone wants the annual Hallmark Card holiday but I wonder how many of us are facing the fact that celebrating the perfect Christmas is an unrealistic expectation.

Our Pastor used to say, “I know you all, and every one of you is going through something.”

We all face challenges as we live in a world filled with “trials and sorrows.” Everyone is going through something … every heart hurts sometimes!

But even in the mess and the missing … we can choose to count it all joy—to praise and worship the One who knows and understands, who loves and forgives, the One who promises us a future filled with hope.

Missionary and author John C. Broger wrote…

 “The hope that God has provided for you is not merely a wish. Neither is it dependent on other people, possessions, or circumstances for its validity. Instead, Biblical hope is an application of your faith that supplies a confident expectation in God’s fulfillment of His promises. Coupled with faith and love, hope is part of the abiding characteristics in a believer’s life.”

And hope is the message of Christmas! Yes, even when our hearts hurt.

 “The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity–hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory–because at the Father’s will Jesus became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.” J. I. Packer

Hope isn’t wishing; it is having confidence and trust in what we believe and living with anticipation that what has been promised will come to pass.

Hope looks at today’s circumstances with an eye on the future. Hope addresses the world’s pain and problems (trials and sorrows) with a focus on the One who has overcome them.

John wrote…

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

And Matthew wrote…

“Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.
    He is my Beloved, who pleases me.
I will put my Spirit upon Him,
    and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
And His name will be the hope
    of all the world.”

Matthew 12:18, 21

Jesus our Lord and Savior is the hope of the world. Jesus is the reason hope is the message of Christmas.

And Jesus is the reason Paul could face problems and persecution with hope and say…

  We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

Romans 5:3–5

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17

 So, when trials and sorrows make you feel down and your heart hurts this holiday season, look ahead through the lens of God’s promises and live with hope.

Let’s pray…

A Prayer to Have Hope Even
When Your Heart Hurts

Father, the images around me are filled with festive settings and joyful faces but my heart hurts. Hallmark movies overflow with sparkling lights and loving relationships while many struggle with financial problems, physical pain, and broken hearts.

Please help us, help me, look beyond the images of what the world says we’re supposed to be feeling to the hope-filled future You have promised.

You sent Jesus to save us and show us Your love. He spent three years teaching Your TRUTH. He felt our pain and encouraged us with compassion and kindness. He lightened the burden of our sins through forgiveness and promised us that through faith we can face the future with hope.

So, although my heart hurts, I will cling to the HOPE I have in Christ—my Lord and Savior, Jesus. I will focus on the countless blessings I enjoy because He willingly came to die so that I might have LIFE. I will live today praising the One who gives victory that lasts forever.

I pray in His precious name. Please help me glorify You by living with hope. Amen.

Remember…

It’s okay if your heart hurts today. Your Father understands your pain and loves you so much that He invites you to…

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
    And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

Psalm 27:8

Run to the Lord and let Him fill you with hope. And when you don’t feel like sparkling focus on the manger … through our Savior we have the HOPE of the WORLD!

God be with you, bless you, and give you everything you need to live with hope.

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