Why Does God Break Our Hearts?

a reflection for troubled times

Has the Lord ever broken your heart?

Have you ever prayed and He did not answer? Have you ever asked and He did not give you your heart’s desires?

Sometimes we may feel that it’s a sin to even say such things.

How dare we accuse God of breaking our hearts when He is kind and merciful and good?

We want to attest that it is not God who breaks our hearts. It is the people we love who fail us. It is the world that expects so much from us but gives so little back.

No, it can’t be God who breaks our hearts. For how could the very One who died for us, the One whose sacred heart as pierced, suffer the heartbreak of His beloved?

We don’t want to even have it cross our minds. But if we can be honest with ourselves, there are times when we also cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, NABRE)

There are seasons in our life when we feel that God has abandoned us.

We cry and He remains silent. We beg, but He seems to turn away.

It may be that other people have hurt us first, but in the end, we all know that everything depended upon the hand of God.

Why did God allow something so bad to happen to His children? Why allow the death of a loved one? Why not heal someone from a terrible disease?

We knew that He could do anything, so why does He not come to help us?

If you are going through such difficult times today, I urge you not to give up.

Even if you feel forsaken by God, do not lose your hope. Cling all the more to Him!

Did He not say that He is close to the brokenhearted?

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
saves those whose spirit is crushed.”
-Psalm 34:19 (NABRE)

If your heart is broken today, then He is close to you.

He is not ignoring you. But He is trying to hold back His comforting hand so that He can accomplish something more valuable for your soul.

"Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up.” - Hosea 6:1 (RSVCE)

God never allows us to experience pain without having something good and beautiful in mind. How could He ever ignore our cries when His heart aches for our every tear?

But He endures the suffering, just like He endured the cross for our sake. And He awaits the perfect moment when the fruits of our suffering have ripened enough to be picked.

“So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” - John 16:22 (NRSVCE)

He promised, and He will fulfill it! He declared and He will deliver what is good.

And after the trial is over, after all the pain, it is only then that we will see.

We shall realize why God has ever allowed to break our hearts into pieces.

Fulton Sheen has a quote that is full of truth but can be so cruel to hear when you’re suffering. “Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them,” he said.

Did God allow our hearts to be wounded so He can enter in more deeply than before?

Could He have somehow seen how closer we would be after suffering so?

Because God can heal in an instant.

And He can restore all that is lost. But He needs to work through our hearts through many seasons of sorrow. He needs to plant the good seeds in pain so that we can later on harvest the fruits in joy!

In the end, the wounds in our hearts are but openings by which the healing love of God can enter in.

You may want to read my book “Mend My Broken Heart: A Spiritual Yet Practical Approach To Healing, Moving On and Loving Again”.

This book is a result of years of listening to people who have real hurts and who struggle with the pain of not knowing how to heal a broken heart. For more than 10 years, Jocelyn Soriano has been a go-to friend, author and prayer partner and has helped inspire people through her writings.

What people are saying:

“…Joyce, you write like an angel…inspiring… thank you…I’ve been going through a lot the past few months…” - Agnes

”Perfectly written! This what I have gone through! Thank you for making me see that there are times we really have to say goodbye. No matter how painful it may seem, goodbyes are essential parts of life for we need to move on towards something better. God bless you, Joyce! Thanks for being part of my healing process. Though I am still a work in progress, I am taking baby steps towards hope… - Rissa”

“I have so much anger in me that I don’t know how to let it go. By reading what you wrote made me feel like there may be hope for me still.” - Jessica