If I Only Had a Heart

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Why do we run to the dentist when we have a bad toothache but we don't run to God when we have a heartbreak? Why do we run to the doctor when our bodies are sick but not to the Healer of hearts when our hearts are sick? When Jim broke his leg in 5 places in a car crash, he sought a doctor to restore it back to its original form. He sought the doctor with urgency because he knew that she had the solution that would ultimately take away the excruciating pain in his leg. Sure he knew that the pain might get worse while the doctor treated him, but he knew that it was only temporary. He willingly underwent the doctor's treatment knowing that it would lead to permanent healing and freedom to walk again.
               So many people have sick hearts. They have hearts that have been wounded but they push down the pain and pretend it doesn't exist. However, hearts never get healed without letting Dr. Jesus heal them. The Bible tells us that Jesus was "sent to heal the broken-hearted."¹ Hearts that aren't surrendered to God to heal, get infected; a hardness settles in. Some hearts even die. These people are like "the walking dead."
               God has given me a ministry that serves others through inner healing or the healing of hearts. God is the gentle Surgeon and has chosen to use me as His scalpel or instrument, to heal wounded hearts and to revive dead hearts.  Often when God brings someone's old and infected wounds to the surface in order to heal him, he runs away. He doesn't want to feel the pain and behaves as if ignoring it will make it disappear on its own. He also doesn't dwell on the fact that the pain would only be temporary and would lead to lasting inner peace and joy.
               If a person gets a bad toothache and chooses not to see a dentist, it only festers and worsens. It doesn't heal itself. Similarly, when a person has a wound in his heart and doesn't bring it to God to heal it, it allows Satan's minions' access. These dark spirits are comparable to the bacteria that causes an infection in an open wound in the skin. For example, when a man's wife cheats on him with another man, this causes a large wound in his heart. This is a weak area where the enemy sees he has access. He sends a dark spirit such as hatred of women, or perhaps a spirit of self-hatred because he blames himself and thinks he wasn't good enough to satisfy his wife. If the man does not take his wounded heart to God, then the spirits will stay with the man and influence his thoughts, feelings and desires. He may listen to the voice of the enemy in his head and act out his anger on his wife or women in general. In this case, he has allowed his heart to harden.
               We must be diligent and not allow our hearts to harden. Several times in the Bible we are admonished to not harden our hearts. In Hebrews 3 we are told "Today...do not harden your hearts... But encourage one another daily...so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."²  The man who became a victim of adultery should run to God and ask Him to heal his shattered heart. He should pray and ask God to help him to not harden his heart. He should ask God for grace to forgive his wife, as God's Word says "Forgive and you will be forgiven."³
               If we do not remain diligent about keeping our hearts soft and open to love, then we run the risk of hardening our hearts. When this happens, we become void of empathy and compassion and it becomes easier to hurt others and even ourselves. It is as if we have erected a steel fortress around our hearts so that no one else can cause our heart pain. We become like robots, just going through the  motions and not really living life. Jesus said that He came so "that we would have life and have it to the fullest."⁴ It was Jesus' plan for us to not only have eternal life with Him, but also to live life to the fullest here on this earth.
               I love story of the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. He was a man made out of metal. He was cold and hard, at least on the outside. The Tin Man sought the wizard to ask him for a heart. He wanted to experience the things of the heart, such as love, joy and friendship. He thought he didn't have a heart, until one day, when he felt it breaking. Heart-felt tears streamed down his face and he exclaimed "Now I know I have a heart!"
               When−not if−your heart gets wounded, run to Dr. Jesus. If you feel God bringing an old, unhealed wound to the surface, surrender to the healing process.  When you do this, you will not only get free of inner pain but also from festering bacteria, or should I say, dark spirits. 

Footnotes     
​1. Isaiah 61:1   
2. Hebrews 3:8, 13  
3. Luke 6:37   
​4. John 10:10