Healing the Heart That No One Sees

I’ve been thinking a lot these past few days about the heart. Physically, the heart is the organ that sends blood and oxygen to every part of the body. It works in harmony with the brain, receiving direction and rhythm. But even the best direction can’t make a broken heart function. When the heart fails, the whole body suffers.

Modern medicine can repair many physical heart problems. Sometimes healing requires surgery, sometimes lifestyle changes, sometimes a complete re‑evaluation of how we care for this priceless organ. A broken heart often wakes us up, reminding us to be more tender and intentional with the way we treat it.

These thoughts have been on my mind because my own heart has been hurting, not my physical heart, but my emotional one. When we speak of emotions, we instinctively point to the heart. It’s where we say we love, hurt, cry, get angry, hope, and search. It’s the place where our deepest feelings live.

Just as we seek help for a physically damaged heart, we must also seek help for an emotionally wounded one. Trials and tribulations take a toll. Pain forces us to dig deep into the soul, to examine what has harmed us, and to consider what changes might help us heal.

The more my heart cried out in pain, the more time I spent on my knees, the more I realized I needed to stay there. My heart was hurting, and my emotions were scattered in every direction. As time passed, I slowly became more stable, more able to feel and think clearly. I wondered whether I was feeling with a healing heart or a damaged one, perhaps both.

But something unexpected happened. The core of who I am began to rise to the surface. I felt love, hope, and charity returning. No matter how I was treated or what pain I felt, I couldn’t become less than who I am. I love deeply. I care fiercely. I forgive. I hope. I don’t quit. There is fight in me. I cannot run from what I believe in or what I long for. I may look foolish to some, but even in repeated pain, something good is rising. I catch glimpses of it, I have HOPE!

So just as we turn to doctors for a broken physical heart, I am seeking help for my emotionally broken one. I know the treatment may be painful. When outside forces damage the physical heart, we must make changes if we want to heal. The same is true here. I need to make changes. I wish other factors would change too, but I cannot control those. I can only control myself.

My heart is broken. I am searching for the right “procedure” to help it become whole again. I don’t like the options in front of me, but I trust that if I stay close to the greatest Physician of all, He will guide me toward peace, one steady heartbeat at a time.