Healing for Broken Hearts

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Jeremiah 17:9

When it comes to matters of the heart, God is the only true expert.  He answered His own quesion in following verse:  "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." (Jeremiah 17:10)  Not only does God know the thoughts, motives and intent of every person, He is willing and able to do what no one could ever do:  to give to every man according to His own ways.  Christians who have come to Christ in faith and repentance of sin continue to be made more aware of our sinfulness as we grow in spiritual maturity.  We never knew how deep our sinfulness, rebellion and folly went without the divine illumination from God, His word and conviction of the Holy Spirit.

The people of Sydney, the nation of Australia and the whole world watched in horror and disbelief as Jews were targeted by gunmen at Bondi Beach at a gathering to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah.  Many were killed and injured in the despicable and brazen attack upon those in attendance at this joyous Jewish festival.  That anyone would plot to kill innocent people at a festive gathering, to obtain weapons and ammunition, and to methodically slaughter others is unthinkable to most.  But this massacre, like other massacres and murders before it, appears to be carefully thought out and planned by people with wicked hearts who imagined, conspired and implemented their plot to kill.

Witnesses, commentators and politicians have expressed grief, sorrow, and anger at what transpired at Bondi, and the natural reaction when such awful, heartbreaking tragedies occur is to attempt to identify what went wrong.  Some have blamed the lack of education or government inaction against antisemitism; some have said gun laws are weak and need to be strengthened.  Others have pointed to the dangers of Islamic radicalisation or immigration being extended to dangerous people.  What I have not heard anyone talk about is the problem of the heart of killers who premeditively and systematically pointed firearms at people to murder them--because we can't imagine the darkness of such hearts that would justify or condone such evil.  Perhaps it is not discussed because the sinful condition of the hearts of man is not something laws, education, vetting system or government beaurocracy can do anything about.

Because of sin, our hearts are deceitful and wicked.  God who knows the depth of the wickedness within us is able to supply hearts as He said in Ezekiel 36:26, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."  Jesus Christ established a new covenant in His own blood, and by faith in Him we receive a new heart and new Spirit.  Those who are in Christ by faith are enabled to do as Ephesians 4:22-24 says:  "...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."  Because God has given me a new heart, my heart breaks for all involved:  the dead and wounded victims and their families, those who were terrorised by the events and even for the wicked gunmen who will be judged by the God of Israel and receive their just compensation.

The God of Israel not only knows what wickedness is in the hearts of men and can give new hearts to those who trust Him, but He is able to heal broken hearts.  Jesus said He came to fulfil this very thing when He read from the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue in Luke 4:18-19:  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."  This is entirely consistent with God of whom the psalmist said in Psalm 147:3:  "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  By His grace God puts a love in our hearts we did not possess before being born again--extended even to those guilty of greivous sin.  Today and every day, may the Light of the World Jesus Christ and His love shine through His people so those in darkness would be drawn to Him, redeemed and healed.