How You Can Mend A Broken Heart

Was the title of a famous 1971 song by the Bee Gees… but did you know that Broken Heart Syndrome is real? Amanda Foreman in an article for The Wall Street Journal titled “Broken Hearts and How to Heal Them”, wrote-- A mere generation ago, “heartbreak” was an overused literary metaphor but not an actual medical event. The first person to recognize it as a genuine condition was a Japanese cardiologist named Hikaru Sato.

In 1990, Dr. Sato identified the curious case of a female patient who displayed the symptoms of a heart attack while testing negative for it. He named it “Takotsubo Syndrome” after noticing that the left ventricle of her heart changed shape during the episode to resemble a takotsubo, a traditional octopus-trap.

A Japanese study in 2001 not only confirmed Sato’s identification of a sudden cardio event that mimics a heart attack but also highlighted the common factor of emotional distress in such patients. It had taken the medical profession 4,000 years to acknowledge what poets had been saying all along: Broken Heart Syndrome is real.

Nowadays, there are protocols for treating the coronary problem diagnosed by Dr. Sato. But although we can cure Broken Heart Syndrome, we still can’t cure a broken heart.
Yes, it’s true we can’t, but Jesus can! Listen to the words of the Psalmist who wrote…

• “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)
• “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
•  “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)

Maybe today you have a broken heart. It may be the result of losing a loved-one. It may be from wayward children or grandchildren, brothers, sisters, or friends. It may be sin that has taken a toll on you. Perhaps its from unmet expectations or some personal failure. Maybe you’ve let others or even yourself down. And possibly, most significant, you have let God down.

If you’re suffering from a broken heart today, your response is vital to your outcome. Judas let Christ down in betrayal, but rather than turn to Christ in his failure and repent, he allowed his broken heart and failure to move him further away from Christ and to his own destruction. Peter let Christ down in denial, and though he grieved, he let his broken heart turn him back to Christ and restoration that would make him incredibly useful to God for the rest of his life.

And then of course Psalm 51 is entirely devoted to David’s failure, repentance, and restoration. But maybe your broken heart has nothing to do with some disobedience, rather it is the result of some disappointment or some “curveball” that this fallen world has thrown at you. Whatever the case, remember the scriptures above, in particular Psalm 34:18… and take your broken heart to Him. He can bind it up, repair it, and coat it in supernatural peace because “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” While medical doctors can’t mend a broken heart, “The Great Physician” still can and still does. Because God is always trying to take you someplace new.

I love being your Pastor!

For God’s Glory Alone
Pastor Ray


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