He Draws Near to the Brokenhearted In Unexpected Ways
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” Psalm 34: 18.
I’ve discovered in my own experience that when I’ve been in a state of great awareness of my unmet need and pain and grief, I’ve had a greater spirit of revelation and insight as well. To read some of my story click here.
To read the Psalm 34 for context, click here.
God Draws Near to the Brokenhearted
The word of God would come alive to me, and I could hardly keep up with the insights the Lord would give me. In fact, I couldn’t keep up.
I ended up summarizing them on in a note pad until I could get to them and record them in my Bible.
On the other hand, when I wasn’t feeling my pain to any great degree and was in a more emotionally pleasant and comfortable place, I was also less sensitive to the Spirit of God (and in general as well).
So, there’s always a balance – an equity- a consolation.
To the degree I was in pain and devastated and heartbroken to that degree I was comforted and consoled with insight from the Word of God.
Now that I’m not in great pain, neither do I experience this great comfort and consolation.
This is because we are holistic beings. We can’t separate our emotions into compartments. If we are feeling sensitive to our pain, we will also be more sensitive to positive emotions and the influence of the Holy Spirit.
It’s Impossible to Suffer Without Comfort
In other words, it’s impossible to suffer and be in great need and pain without the comfort and consolation and compensation that comes with it.
This is of course provided that we respond to it with a right attitude. And don’t medicate it with other things.
This also explains why people who had great insight and revelations in the Bible also experienced great suffering. Joseph and the apostle Paul are a few examples. Joseph had prophetic dreams and was able to interpret them. And Paul wrote most of the New Testament.
The truth is besides our salvation we don’t get anything for free. And the price for great insight and revelation is great pain. (And even gratitude requires that we give everything up for salvation).
And the price of a life of comfort and ease is a dirth of this.
The Price of Medicating Our Pain
When we can choose to escape our pain and medicate it and numb it out, we don’t realize this great gift we are also missing out on.
We usually think pain is bad and an absence of pain is good. But the truth is both have two sides- a good one and a bad one.
The bad side of pain is obvious. But there is also a glorious side- a spirit of wisdom and revelation, among other things.
Things are never only as they appear. There is always an apparent side but also a hidden side. This is true for the seemingly good as well as the seemingly bad.
So, I believe this is one meaning of the first part of this verse. The Spirit of truth, of wisdom, of knowledge is close to the brokenhearted.
To read another post related to He Draws Near to the Brokenhearted In Unexpected Ways, see The Meaning of “The Righteous Fall 7 Times and Rise Again”.