To Heal the Broken Hearted

When we think of our Savior what comes to mind first?
His triumph over sin, making it possible for all who sin to repent and be forgiven?
Do you think of the sacrifice He made when he died for us, was resurrected, therefor making eternal life possible for all mankind?
Do you think of the sick He healed, the sermons He gave, the miracles He performed?
Do you think of the many stories in the Bible of forgiveness he gave because of the faith of those who sought Him?
When I think of my Savior another image comes to mind.
I saw Him standing there.
In his eyes were boundless love and compassion.
In a dark room marked "The Neglected and Fatherless" I saw myself, as if I were looking into the past.
It hurt to see my own image in such an ugly place.
Hurt and anger and bitterness filled my soul to the brim.
Then I looked up, just a few small inches.
The realization that I was looking at my reflection in a mirror took my breath for just a moment.
Physically, I was not in that room, but somehow that place was a part of my soul.
My eyes wondered a few inches higher still.
My eyes met His eyes.
His hands were holding the mirror.
He was holding me, with His very hands.
His eyes pierced my very soul.
In an instant, love and warmth replaced the years of anger and hurt and bitterness.
Not a word was spoken, His eyes said it all.
In that moment He took the heart break from me.
My heart, which had been so heavy and so full, was healed.
I felt light and happy, even joyful.
I felt His love, and it made everything better.
He found me with a heart bruised and broken and torn in pieces.
With his love He took my heart and gave it back to me in perfect condition, whole and happy and new.
To my surprise, when I looked back down at the mirror in His hands, my image was gone.
I was no longer in that place.
He took me by the hand and let me out, into a life of my own.
A life full of love and laughter and music.
A life with the happiest heart I could ever imagine.
A life so full that I feel tears of joy and gratitude could burst at any moment.
A life I could never have imagined on my own.
A life bigger than myself.
A life I never felt I deserved.
Yet here I am, years later, still filled with His love and compassion.
Ashamed that it has taken me so long to tell the story of His love for me.
When Christ publicly announced His minesrty He did not announce that we would suffer for the sins of the world, although He would.
He did not announce that He would die on the cross for mankind and ultimately overcome death, although He would.

"When Jesus arrived in Nazareth, he entered the synagogue and read a prophecy about the coming Messiah which the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah had written seven hundred years earlier. Jesus announced that this prophecy was about himself." ~New Testament Seminary Student Manuel

This is the scripture he read in the synagogue, "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."~Luke 4:18

He goes on to say, "And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." ~Luke 4:20-21

For the first time in his mortal life He announced publicly that He was the Messiah, of whom the prophets had testified for generations would come.
And what did he say he came to do?

The first thing he says is that He was sent to heal the brokenhearted.
Heartbreaks happen every day and to every person.
No one is immune.
Everyday a family is broken by divorce, leaving parents and children broken.
Everyday unmet expectations are shattered, leaving broken dreams and hearts.
Everyday people lose loved ones to death, both old and young, leaving hearts filled with grief and despair.
Everyone has their own story of heartbreak, I am not the only one.
If there's one thing I've learned in this life through all my friendships and deep connections with people, it's this: We've all suffered heartbreaks, big and small.
The great news?
We need not suffer alone.
He has said numberless times throughout the ages in the scriptures and through his prophets, "Come unto me!"
He is waiting for us to come to Him.
He wants us to be happy beyond measure.
And His arms are outstretched still.