A Stronger More Confident Heart
22. Dec, 2009 
14 Comments
Every once in a while when I’m training I’ll have a little bit of an injury to deal with. Most times I just modify my workout so that I can allow for the injury to heal but there are times where I just have to take a break completely so the proper healing can really take place.
During the times when I take a break to heal, I try to do things to strengthen growth to the injured area of my body.
Honestly, its never really fun and in fact sometimes it’s a painful process to go through but once I’m healed… I’m stronger in that area of my body and I know what to do to keep it strong and prevent further injury.
Currently, I’m nursing some soreness in both of my calf muscles and getting through it well, but in the process it got me to thinking again about the lessons to be learned here when it comes to everyday life.
I started thinking about the heart as a physical muscle that has to be worked out and strengthened to be a strong and healthy heart, but also how the heart is an emotional muscle that is more prone to injury.
I’m no expert on issues of the heart, but I do know any time my heart gets hurt, I take a break and find ways to strengthen my character and confidence so that my heart is stronger and grows through the process.
Honestly, its never really fun and in fact sometimes it’s a painful process to go through but once my heart is healed… I’m stronger and more confident with who I am and the direction I’m headed in that area of my life.
So the question for you is..
How do you heal the issues of your own heart?
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I don't know if I can say I "did" anything. It was really just a matter of time and distance taking some emotion from a situation and then being able to work through whatever the issues were that I couldn't see at the time.
I like you take time out. Refocus by focusing on others. When I hurt I am more focused on me. So by focusing on others and helping I start to heal. This may mean listening others and acts of service. I also take time to focus on the one who never hurts me. He is the great physician and therapy for all ailments of the heart.
Time with Jesus.
I do nothing. I found it gets in the way of God healing my heart.
I ask Him "Whats going on here Father? What agreements need broken? What wounds need healing? What's the, or is there a, deeper issue going on here?" (or something along those lines). Then I listen.
Time is what I need. At the moment it's happening, I want it to be an instant healing. But I know that in time, the pain will ease. But I would say that beyond that, renewing my mind (Romans 12:2) is also part of the process. I see that verse as an action that I need to take so that my mind is thinking on the right things. It's tempting when the hurt is bad to get all caught up in it. But I think it's necessary to keep the mind focused on what it's true and lovely and pure, etc.
The thing is, I have really sucked at doing that in the recent past. And I think that while God is the one healing my heart, I haven't helped the process by focusing on the hurt and the wrong things. I think our state of mind goes a long way towards getting our emotions in check. So I'll just add that I think renewing our minds is part of the process, at least for me, but I haven't done so hot with that recently.
Still broken.
Hi Spence,
Someone recommended your post through a tweet. And I've seen your name a million times I think by now.
Anyway, great parallel here. Healing the issues of my heart is definitely something I'm learning a lot about right now. Authentic community is it for me. First, with God (or I could say authentic communion). Sharing with him my hurts, habits, struggles. Confessing to him. Asking him to heal those awful parts of my flesh. Asking him to even show me where I hurt when I don't even know it.
Second, is authentic community with other believers (including my husband). Admitting where I've been wrong. Confessing the deep, ugly stuff. Entrusting my heart to them so that I can be healed. And not lying about being "okay," but even intentionally letting them know the issues of my heart.
I just wrote a post, kind of like this that has to do with the hard work of walking in the Spirit.
Thanks.
Honestly Spence — I had a breakdown five years ago and it's two steps forward one step back for me and I hate that. I'm a "get over it already" kind of person when it comes to myself. I'm far more graceFULL with others who are in pain. I got pretty ticked at myself recently when I discovered that I had allowed an old hurt to turn to hate and that it was getting in the way of how I responded to certain things – but now I at least get to work through it now. (I had an emotionally violent reaction to another blog I read when they wrote on this same issue a while back — that's how I knew I still had work to do.) The neat thing is, the level of hurt I felt back then has lightened considerably now. God does work through time, and experience.
I don't have a strongly spiritual answer here, I do keep a prayer journal, talk to God, surround myself with great people who've been broken at least once in their lives and have overcome it. ( I have found this important). And I try to allow myself time and patience. I take the time to talk to people I trust and that helps too.
I guess I do a lot of things and allow God to heal my heart at the same time. Strangely, He (God) brings just the right people and things into my life during those healing seasons. I'm more prone to get out of myself and do for others during those times and only recently learned that I can use service as a self medicating way to deny hurt — allowing myself to feel the injury without overly dwelling on it is a balancing act. hense the two steps forward, one step back deal.
great thoughts. Love your blog.
I believe in righteous anger but I make sure I don't say or do anything that will take their focus off their problem, the whole of what they did, and onto my behavior. So many want the other to feel the full weight of what they did, but unfortunately, don't control their own reactions which redirects the spotlight and makes the pain much worse. I resist endlessing replaying it in my mind. Mostly, I'm silent. Mostly, I have deep, teary, lengthy conversations with God, a lot of them occurring in my God-place: the cliffs overlooking miles of incredible coast, the sea! That's one side of the coin; the other, is laughter: comedies, witty banter with friends…
I got involved in ladies Bible Study and Kid's Camp. Things of God to take my mind off myself and my issues. I started doing volunteer work and joined an emergency response team in my community and adopted some children through World Vision and Compassion. Now I don't have time to worry over my issues. HA
I just know that for the past 5 years since I started all this, I am in a better place emotionally and physically than I have at any other time in my life. It's too bad I waited til I was in my 50's. But better late than never I guess.
I step away from the din and the trappings/distractions of everyday (if at all possible). Read, journal, sing, pray, repent (generally I can count on the fact that something's gone awry with my heart and where I've placed my trust), and talk about it when ready with close, authentic, trustworthy friends. I also rest.
I pray for God's knowledge, understanding, and wisdom in everything–I try to rely on reason and not on my emotions in order to make decisions. I place no trust in my ability to understand the totalness of my circumstances, so I throw myself into God's arms and stay there until I'm ready to proceed. Then I hold His hand and follow Him. Tears don't matter, truth does.
Something happened a year ago that completely shattered my world (and my heart at the same time). Trying to help me deal with it, one of my friends suggested that I write about it. I ended up writing a little thing about how someone had stolen my "funny" and I wanted to file a police report. Not exactly what my friend had in mind when she told me to write, but writing about it helped me understand better how I felt. And looking for the humor made me see things differently.
Now, I'm not saying that making a joke out of broken hearts is healing for everyone, but that is how I express things. I guess the important thing is to express something in whatever way is natural for each person rather than keep it all inside.