The Bleeding Heart

There are so many people that live out their days with bleeding hearts. The wounds are deep. The scars are evident. The pain is excruciating. For some the bleeding of the heart is only a trickle. For others the bleeding flows more freely. For a considerable number the bleeding is crucial.

I am not talking about physical bleeding. I am referring to the emotional bleeding of those living out every day with wounded hearts. Often my days are filled with listening and ministering to these people. The list is long.

I think of the man working away from his family. His heart bleeds because he misses them. He is a devoted family man and suffers silently when he has to be away from his wife and children.

I think of those parents breaking on the inside as they watch their youngest children soon graduate from high school. It won't be long before their nests will be empty. They rejoice and grieve at the same time. These parents bleed emotionally as they recall a lifetime of memories and wonder where the time went. They wish they could hold onto their little girls and boys all grown up now a little longer.

I also think of the man wounded by one church after another. He has seen the ugly side of church in not one but five different situations. His heart bleeds. His wife's heart bleeds. He is disillusioned trying to understand. He is vulnerable. He is devastated and wary of ever putting his heart out there to be trampled by another church again. While his heart bleeds insensitive church members who are manipulative, divisive, abusive, and hard hearted never consider the damage done to staff members in the wake of their actions.

I think of widows and widowers who live with the gaping hole of grief in their hearts everyday. Some lost their spouses to old age. Some had to say goodbye to their spouses unexpectedly. All grieve. All still bleed a little. Each days something triggers a memory. Everyone else moves along in life enjoying their families. These grieving souls live alone. Grown children get too busy to call or make time for a visit. Friends forget over time. Pastors come and go and the new ones are not aware of the bleeding hearts that sit in the pews week after week. Such people drop through the cracks.

There are parents who still feel the pains and bleed inheart when they see a mother or a father playing with a child. They are reminded of precious memories of playing with their own child before God called them to Heaven. These grieving parents would do anything to hear a simple, "I love you," again, to have that child climb in their laps and hug their necks, or to tuck them into bed just one more time. The reminders are everywhere their precious children are no longer here. Though their are pictures to remember it is not enough to stop the bleeding. These parents learn to gut out life. They even smile and laugh from time to time. Yet the bleeding remains. Each day a little more life ebbs from them as they long to be reunited with their children.

We are surrounded by bleeding hearts. Do we ever notice. Do we take the time to look outside our circumstances; to focus on others that need encouragement, a listening ear, a comforting hug, or a prayer of reassurance. It is so easy to be consumed by our own troubles and trials we fail to see those bleeding hearts all around us.

Jesus notices. When He walked this earth physically He saw people. He saw the bleeding heart in the man with the withered hand. He saw the bleeding heart of the demon possessed man, the woman with the long issue of blood, as well as father who lost his daughter. Jesus ministered to the bleeding heart of the mother walking in the funeral procession of her son. He also ministered to the bleeding hearts of two grieving sisters over the death of their brother Lazarus. Jesus comforted the bleeding heart of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus tenderly restored the bleeding heart of one brash disciple who crashed and burned. Jesus walked slowly through the crowds. He loved the unlovable healing the blind, the lame, and the lepers. He had compassion for the people who were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus embraced the hurting. He made time for the children. He patiently taught the multitudes. He even reassured his cousin near the end of John the Baptist' life when he doubted.

Jesus still ministers to bleeding hearts. One of the ways He does that is through you and me. He lays people on our hearts and minds. He reminds us of their hurts and pains to pray, to call, to visit, to email, text, tweet, or write a letter. He prompts us to listen, to hug, and to hold those bleeding. He slows us down long enough to remind us others are suffering and need help. that. Jesus does not forget the bleeding hearts. He walks through the healing restoration process with bleeding hearts for as long as it takes ushering them back to wholeness.

Ministering to bleeding hearts is messy business. You have to be willing to enter their pain. Some of their emotional bleeding with get on you. Your emotional reserves can be depleted. O, but such ministry is needed and Jesus is our example in this.

 I have been on both sides of this issue. My heart has bled over the years. God used people to minister to me. Some listened without judging. Some encouraged with letters, emails, and phone calls. Others simply stood with me in the tough times. Countless numbers have prayed and stood in the gap for me.

On the other hand, I have held the hands of those battling terminal illness. I have embraced those grieving the death of a spouse, child, or parent. I have wept with those caught in sin and sought to love them without condemnation back to repentance and restoration.

Some of you reading this today are bleeding. Consider this your reassurance that Jesus sees, Jesus cares, and He is ministering to you today to stop the bleeding. For the rest of you, consider this your wake up call. Your wake up call to the reality that people are suffering all around you. It could be someone right under your nose in your own family or someone you work with. It could be somebody at school.  It could be a friend you have lost touched with. It could be somebody in the next pew you hardly ever notice. Walk through life with your eyes open to those around you and your heart open to minister to bleeding hearts. The day may come when the roles will be reversed and you will be the one with the bleeding heart.

Jesus, I thank you for always being available to those with bleeding hearts. I thank you for using people to be your vessels of ministry and healing. May you use all of us to help the hurting today in some capacity. In Jesus name, amen.