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When Hearts Heal
Linda Estes
Energion Publications
Gonzalez, FL
2019
Copyright © 2019 Linda Estes
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard
Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971,
1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.
Electronic ISBN: 978-1-63199-719-8
ISBN13: 978-1-63199-718-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019952680
Energion Publications
P. O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
850-525-3916
energion.com
When Hearts Heal…
This is my fourth and most likely my last devotional. As I look at my other three books, it is easy for me to see the progress that has been made since the first one was published in 2017. Progress not just as an author but progress in my spiritual and physical life. God has brought me through a season of pain, heartache and sorrow. This journey I’ve been on since my husband, Alan, died unexpectedly on June 5, 2016, has been challenging. It’s taken over three years of tears and heartache, not just from the death of Alan but from everything that ensued afterwards, to get me to this point of peace in my heart. Even physically, with having more heart issues resulting in another heart surgery for me, I stand with full confidence on the promise of Psalm 73:26. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Throughout this journey I have lived in the goodness of God. He has been my Lord and Savior, my Comforter, my forever Friend, my Healer, and my Confidant. He has shown me over and over that He has every aspect of my life covered through His grace and because of that I have a future that I can now see. It’s not the future I thought I would have but it’s the future that God had in His perfect plan for me. With that being true, I can now say, “She does not fear bad news; she confidently trusts the Lord to take care of her.” - Psalm 112:7
One of the things that I am so thankful for is that I haven’t had to take this journey alone. Besides the Lord always being with me, He has put so many people in my life to help get me to this point of healing. To my family and friends who have walked this journey with me, my heart runneth over. Your love and encouragement have helped in the healing of my broken heart and I will forever be grateful for the things you have done. Does this mean I don’t miss Alan anymore? Absolutely not! He is in my heart for all eternity. There’s not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. And there’s not a day that has gone by that I don’t thank the Lord for taking Alan home when He did so he would not have to endure any more pain and suffering in his earthly life.
The road God has taken me down is really so cool. This devotional is a collection of morning devotions we wrote from August of 2018 to the summer of 2019. And when I say “we,” this is what I mean. These devotions come through my ongoing conversations with the Lord. He reminds me of our talks and guides me as I write these thoughts down each day so you see, “we” are writing these devotionals. The Lord has done exceedingly more than I could ever imagine. One of those things He has done is getting me involved in an organization called World Prayr. (Nope, that’s not a typo. There is intentionally not an “e” in prayer.) Through this organization, my devotionals are being translated into other languages so they can be used as resources for areas in the world where they don’t have access to Christian materials. Who would ever have thought that my morning texts would now be shared worldwide? When I asked one of my friends that exact question, her answer was immediate. “Alan would have.” And there we are…back full circle. It was Alan who initially encouraged me to have these devotions published and he even had a plan in mind to make it happen but it was God’s ultimate plan that prevailed. You see, it was not a surprise to God when Alan was going to be taken home. His death was only a shock to us. It was God’s plan that put everything in proper order for years in advance so that at the right time in my life these four devotionals were written and published. So to Henry and Jody, thank you for your part in God’s plan by taking a chance on me and publishing these words from God. And thank you to the World Prayr family for giving me the opportunity to be a part of them and work with them. And to my friend who put me on a ladder and then patiently waited to get just the right lighting for the cover picture of this book, thank you for turning my vision into the perfect photo.
Then exactly what does happen when hearts heal? Quite simply, God’s plans are realized. In my life that meant that the gut-wrenching pain and sorrow of Alan’s death was replaced with His love…directly from Him and through others who love me. When we walk through life with the Light of God’s love shining into our pain, grief, and brokenness, that’s when our hearts heal. So today I would like to encourage you that if you are in a difficult season in your life, where pain and sorrow have camped out in your heart, give it time and give it to the Lord. I was recently asked by someone who just lost a loved one if the pain ever lessens. Now, some three plus years after Alan’s death, I can offer a more uplifting answer. The grief changes. It gets doable. On this earth, I’ll never get over Alan’s death but thanks be to God, He has helped me get through it to the point where I’m now looking forward to seeing what He has in store for my time remaining here on this earth. Once again Lord, I thank you for giving me Alan to share the best years of my adult life. And, when you see Alan today, please send him my love and tell him I miss him but I’m good, because when hearts heal...
1…INNER BEAUTY
Good morning! We’ve all heard that it’s the first impression that counts when meeting someone new. Since we’ve heard that so much growing up, we typically will just accept that as being right. The problem with this is that our first impressions are only looking at things on the outside. Things like their physical appearance and smile, or lack of it. I was thinking about this when I read 1 Samuel 16:7. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” God is a reader of the heart and for that I am very thankful. It’s what’s on the inside that God cares about.
Have you ever been wrongly judged because people made decisions about you without taking the time to know what’s in your heart? It’s hurtful, isn’t it? Even people who have known you for many years still might not know what’s in your heart because they haven’t given you the time it takes to discover that. It’s sad, but even without that information, they still make judgements about you.
We should look for inner beauty because that’s what God does. In Matthew 7:20, Jesus tells us what we are to look for. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.” The fruits that Jesus is talking about are found in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” These are the things that God values and these same fruits will tell you about a person’s inner beauty. That beauty found in their heart matters to God, and it should matter to us, too. So here’s to looking at others through our Father’s loving eyes.
Heavenly Father, please help us to see others as You see them and may our fruits
