Heart Sore to Heart Soar

The heart......the core of life....physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Without it, we would physically die. It's vital to a sustained life.  Maybe that's why it is referenced in so many ways emotionally and spiritually?

Is it possible to be heart-sore and heart-soaring at the same time?
                         I believe so

Some may call it "bittersweet", and some may say they have "mixed emotions", but it's all the same really.  I believe that things can touch us so deeply that our hearts feel pierced, but at the same time are so profound that they take us to a new heights of understanding.
                 I believe God does that.


Yesterday, I saw a man, thinned by cancer, walking slowly down the sidewalk holding the tiny hand of his granddaughter.  He had the most gentle and tender look on his face as he led her to the front door of the town candy shop.  Emotions washed over me like a giant tidal wave.  Sadness, adoration, gratitude, and hope.  My heart was made sore as I thought of this fleeting moment in time and the temporariness of beautiful moments with this sick grandpa and little girl.  At the same time, it was one of the most precious things I had seen all day.  It was a blessing. It made my heart soar to think about how God can take the hardest things of life and transform them into fleeting moments of tenderness and love.

 Those things that pierce the heart can sometimes be felt like a physical ache from deep within.  An ache that makes the heart heavy.  An ache that makes one feel all broken inside.....broken to the point of no return.  And we can stay there if we choose.....all caged up and bound.....separated from the rest of life.
                 But that's really not necessary.


We have a God that cares.  We have a God that not only comforts sore hearts, He also has a way of causing them to soar in ways we never could have imagined, teaching us to look for the hidden things in each moment..... the blessings of His grace.....the lessons that we can take along with us as we soar to new heights of awareness of who God is.  

We live in a world full of broken people.  Not one of us is free of a sore heart at times.  I believe God made us that way.  Why?  Because without the sore heart can we really experience a soaring heart?
Without darkness, would we ever really know what light is?  Without cold, would we ever really understand warmth?

In this world you will have troubles, but take heart!  I have overcome the world.
 John 16:33

Sometimes I feel so hopeless and helpless.  I hear the problems of my loved family and friends,  and my heart hurts.  It's sore with sadness, guilt, fear, anxiety, and just plain tiredness.  I can't fix things.  I want to, but I can't.  But God can.  The thing is, He does it in His own way and time.  And usually that's not in my way and time and so I get discouraged.  But He sees the entire picture from beginning to end, and He knows how it all fits together.  So when I take my sore heart to Him, He lifts me up and shows me things from His perspective.  You see, it's not because of who we are.....it's because of Who He is that our hearts can soar. When He dwells in our heart, we can soar above the troubles of the world. Because of His wisdom and grace, He works all things out according to His purpose.  He can bring good out of every single situation.  He already has overcome the world.  In Him, we are saved from a forever sore heart.....How?  By His Son Jesus who was pierced for our sins so that we could have eternal life in Him.   So that we could have soaring hearts, even when we have sore hearts.