Cell phones, hurts, and broken hearts…

My cell phone died this week. I sat on my sofa in disbelief while I took the battery out and put it back in. Not once, not twice, but several times. The display flashed on and off. Some of the buttons worked; some didn’t. I tapped the display, as if that were magically going to resuscitate my favorite toy. I exhaled. It’s dead. It’s really dead.

Although I immediately ordered a replacement, that night, I kept my phone by my bed. The next morning, I took it to work. I carried it around with me everywhere I went – meeting to meeting, on my walking breaks, even to the bathroom. I felt naked without its familiar shape in my hand. Even as I sat working at my desk, I checked it throughout the day, hoping a text message would somehow sneak its way through its flat-lined circuitry, it would be revived, and we could go back to the way things were.

For two days straight, the useless phone took up precious real estate in my purse. Just dead weight.

This is exactly what I do with my hurts, dear one. I carry them with me way past their expiration dates, letting them take up precious space in my heart. They do nothing for me except weigh me down. Many times, the longer I hold on to them, the more familiar they become, and the more I resist letting them go. The cycle continues. But it doesn’t have to.

My Heavenly Father wants to take away my hurts. He wants to daily bear my burdens (Psalm 68:19). Yes, it’s scary, but He will take care of me. When my heart is broken, He’s right there beside me (Psalm 34:18). He will heal my broken heart, and He will bind up my wounds (Psalm 147:3). He alone can restore my soul (Psalm 23:3).

On the second day, I finally realized my phone had already seen its last day, so I left it home. I know my phone can’t be fixed, but I know I can be healed and restored. I pray I start giving God my hurts on the second day, if not the first.

Come alongside… Are you still holding on to a hurt that has now become familiar to you? What is keeping you from giving it over to God?