Hope For a Broken Heart

About a week ago I had one of those days that leave you beat up emotionally. I faced three very stressful situations that day. The problem was not that I didn't what to do. I clearly understood how God wanted me to respond to each of those situations. The problem was that I didn't want to do God's Will. For about a month I had been ministering to a youth group at a local church in the area. Over the six weeks that I worked with them we developed close relationships with one another. But because of some situations on the field I felt God wanted me to stop working with them on Wednesday nights.

So on a Thursday morning I called the pastor on his cell phone and on the verge of tears told him that I would not be teaching the youth any more. The pain that I felt after speaking with him was excruciating. The night before I had connected with those teens like never before. I had earned their respect along with their friendship. And now God wanted me to step out of that ministry. I felt terrible for the rest of the day. It was not that I questioned whether or not God wanted me to move on in ministry, that was clear to me. But it did not stop the pain in my heart.

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to teach a sunday school lesson at the local church where I am presently ministering. I taught on the life of Abraham, specifically his willingness to sacrifice Isaac on an altar. I wondered how he could possibly have the strength and faith to willingly sacrifice the most precious thing in his life. But then I noticed that was not the only time God called Abraham to sacrifice something precious. He was commanded to give up many things that were precious to him. He was commanded to give up his family and friends so that God could bring him to the promised land. He was commanded to give Lot the best of the land that was given to him by God. He gave up the incredible riches offered to him by the king of Sodom and Gomorrah after rescuing him from captivity. He was asked to give up his own plan of bringing God's blessing upon Ishmael. Every one of those sacrifices must have been painful, but they were necessary. For those sacrifices were used by God to prepare Abraham for a special work. He would never have been able to obey the command of God to sacrifice his son if he had not already walked the road of sacrifice.

Last Wednesday night was very hard for me because I wanted to be with the teenagers who I had been teaching. I truly believe that God will allow me to continue ministering to them at a later time. But I understand that God is using this situation to make me stronger. And that every time I willingly give up something precious to me I am making myself like Christ. That truth gives me comfort even if my heart is broken.