If you came over from Encouragement for Today, welcome! My friends and I are in week #7 of The Mended Heart Study. This week we are talking about what it might look like to move forward as you heal, and ties in perfectly with today’s devo.
If you have a comment or prayer request, I promise I’ll read every one and pray over each.
I know awkward.
Like that time I walked out of the bathroom with my skirt tucked in my underwear. No one said anything.
Not one person.
When I finally walked outside and felt the wind where it shouldn’t be felt, I realized why I had received the looks that seemed so strange moments before.
Momentum can be awkward, too.
You’ve been moving forward. You tangibly sense what God is doing, but you’re not sure where to go next, or which way to turn when you feel God calling you to bigger and greater things.
Do you wait?
Plunge in?
Or just turn around and make your way back to familiar territory?
These are crossroads.
Places where a decision is made, and you worry that you’ll make the wrong one.
I understand that feeling, but crossroads become turning points when we shift our focus from our choice to His choice for us.
That leads us to today’s principle of mending:
God, and His plan for you, does not change in the crossroads.
What does this mean?
Regardless of the crossroad, God — a loving God, who knows your name, the number of hairs on your head, who has relentlessly pursued you from the cross — is not changed by our circumstances.
His plan for you is the same.
His love for you does not go away.
Perhaps the crossroad you are at right now is one of waiting.
God, and His plan for you, is unchanging.
It’s not wasted time. You are learning to trust. You are waiting instead of leaping, like you used to do. You are seeking direction.
This crossroad is part of the process, and it’s just as important as your final destination.
Or the crossroad you are in right now is one of hardship.
God, and His plan for you, is unchanging.
The choices you’ve made in the present are leading you toward wholeness, but that means that you are facing the choices or hurt of the past.
Not everyone understands why you’re changing.
That might mean that you say no when you used to say yes.
It might mean that you have compassion for those who are broken, but refuse to live in brokenness with them.
You’re in a partnership with a God who loves you, and He’s teaching you and growing you, and sometimes that’s downright hard.
But it’s also freeing. One by one, chains are being removed from your heart. You’re learning to live and act and think in a new way.
Hard, hard, hard. Yes.
But part of the plan.
Beautiful. Freeing. Liberating.
Maybe the crossroad you are in right now is one where a U-Turn is required.
These are personal crossroads where we can say yes — or no — to what God is asking.
As your heart mends, there will be moments when you sense that it’s time to make a decision.
You have the opportunity to respond to God in these personal crossroads. You can look at it as God telling you what to do . . . or a personal invitation from a Savior who knows you well.
You walk away from what might seem “no big deal” to others, like holding on to anger or pain or unforgiveness, to find His best for you.
What is God’s plan for you in the crossroads marked “U-Turn?”
To get out of the trap of being stuck emotionally, spiritually, to something or someone so that you can live free.
What about you?
What does your crossroad look like?
How is God, and His plan for you, unchanging in the midst of it?
Today I am giving away one copy of The Mended Heart: God’s Healing for Your Broken Places! Just leave a comment to be entered.
Yesterday I also offered a giveaway of my friend, Holley Gerth’s new book, You’re Going to Be Okay. Leave a comment on that page to be entered into that giveaway.
Last, I want to share two gifts with you. I’d love to offer you Chapter One of The Mended Heart: God’s Healing for Your Brokenness free. {<–Click on link}
If you haven’t read The Unburdened Heart: Finding the Freedom of Forgiveness, {<–Click on link} I’d love to offer Chapter One of that book to you free as well.
I’m so glad you joined me here today.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about when you struggle to trust people. I hope you’ll come back, or subscribe to my blog. I’d love to see you again. ♥
Trying to let go of everything that happened and even when I try my best sometimes I have a knee jerk reaction. But I keep trying because I believe somehow everything will make sense if I keep going because I want to see what this fight is all about. What is on the other side of this obstacle?!
God’s plan is unchanging. I needed that, thank you!
I woke up this morning, just “not wanting to” I did not want to get up, I did not want to do life…not end it, just not do the stuff that should be done. I feel pulled in too many directions. I feel too overwhelmed. I am tired of feeling that way. I feel the way the person on your picture on blog looks. The good news, is I KNOW better. SO, I will rely on GOD and his strength! HE will provide. I can accept what HE has to offer. HE will see me through.
Thanks for the give away! I’d love to read your book! God did a lot of healing in my heart several years ago from childhood abuse but lately I’m sensing the need & desire for more….We’re all onions (lots of layers)! I’m also at a crossroads right now in terms of making decisions about a number of issues and struggling to discern God’s will in them.
Praying for my daughter who is at the crossroads after a very abusive relationship. Praying for healing and discernment! Thanks for the vision to continue!!
Thank you for this timely message. This is something I am struggling with right now.
I wasn’t really sure what to call myself for I was not going to put my real name here for the entire world to see. I may be broken in spirit but God knows that I am not stupid!! I just happened to read my Proverbs 31 email from today (4/22) and it just hit home. In more ways than one.
I haven’t been following this study but would really like (and probably need) to. There has been so much damage to my heart, soul and spirit that I am just know encountering the aftereffects and fallout from it. My years of suppressing emotions have led me into rages of anger, which I am not dealing with constructively. I do not drink, do drugs nor am I sexually promiscuous, but I am not coping with these issues in a healthy, constructive manner either. Is there any way to backtrack this study from the beginning? I am sure I can go to the P31 Website and purchase it but I haven’t been there lately either. I have been just trying to handle it on my own and I realize that 1. It isn’t healthy; and 2. It’s not working. Just not sure what to do and to be honest, how much more I can take.
With all of that said posting this comment will be a huge step for me for I am not one to ask for any type of help. I still have to hit the post key but you cannot learn how to forgive and like yourself without first acknowledging there is an issue and then asking for help. One step I have accomplished; the other has one foot of the ground and is waiting to move ahead.
Thank you for your post today. They say the Man works in mysterious ways and I believe that he does.
I would love a copy of your book!
I so relate to this crossroad throughout my life, great description and truth.
Wow. Just wow. I have been struggling mightily with this, particularly since my beloved husband died 2 years ago. Reading your posting here about being at a crossroad is so applicable right now. Want to participate in this study and read your book.
Thank you for your words of wisdom. Last week I stood at that crossroad and decided it was time to take my head knowledge and turn it into heart knowledge. I accepted Christ into my heart. However due to brokenness I am beginning to think that everyday is a crossroad. My survival techniques of running and hiding are so engrained. It is going to take time to heal and move away from that. Yet as you said God has a plan. Maybe someday he can use my brokenness from abuse and ptsd to help someone else.
Thank you for sharing your insight on the crossroads God places us at. I so want to be free from my lack of faith in this struggle. My head and my heart just haven’t met on this one area. Fear keeps stopping me. But His Word says ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north…’ Deuteronomy 2:3 I want to turn North and go in the direction my Savior has for me. Thank you for your encouragement and direction today.
Thank you so much for offering hope – my heart aches for those who’ve had a piece of their heart stolen whether by force or a choice that’s made in a relationship that doesn’t work out. I’m so thankful for God’s redemption & that He sees who He’s made me to be. I’d love to get a copy of the book!
Thank you for creating this book. It sits at home with me on so many levels. I have been on this rollercoaster ride of fear, anxiety and depression all because (now I know this) I thought I could be stronger and fix it all myself.
I was not leaning on my Lord or fully putting my heart and faith in Him. Therefore, I continue to remain in a “holding pattern”. This has had an affect on every area of my life. Reading your book would really be a blessing in my life right now. Please enter me into your contest. God bless you and all those whose hearts are in need of mending.
Please post my comment using just the initial of my last name
I’m desperate for God to heal my broken places. The healing process is hardwork. I’m glad He is faithful.
I sooo need to read this and I would really appreciate a copy of your book.
I know God is refining me, and that He indeed is mending my broken heart. It doesn’t always feel or seem like it, but I am really trying to just believe in God.
Thank you for this book….all of us are broken in some way
I would love a copy of this book not for myself, but for a friend who just told me she was sexually abused as a child. She is just now trying find healing from these situations in life and asked me if I knew of any resources. I read your Proverbs 31 devotion this morning and know your book will be perfect for her.
Thanks!
Many people tell me what a blessing I am, an inspiration…but I am a WRECK. An absolute wreck. I am tired of being like this, tired of simply BEING. When I tried to talk to someone about it, I was shut down, shut out. I am praying that God will bring me through this
I would so love a copy of your book. Thank you for this devotional today!
I would love to have a copy of your book. I know it works give me one more great resource to try and mend my broken heart …
I would love to have the opportunity to read through your book and to go through a long process of healing! Prayers are much appreciated! Thanks!
These last 10 years have been an ongoing struggle for me. I fight against a terrible self esteem, Co-dependency Co-adddiction & verbal & physical abuse from my childhood. My husband is sex-addict that was horribly abused by multiple people as a child & has never found healing for it. He daily struggles with physical & emotional pain I know that he has tried to self medicate that pain by acting out, prescriptions, & various other addictions. Even though we are slowly recovering, my heart is still so broken by the years of acting out (his affairs etc.) I know that God has a purpose for all this pain. I know that I need to forgive but struggle with unwillingness to follow through. Thank you so much for your blog I read it daily. I would be very interested in recieving your book to heal the wounded places in my soul but also maybe to pass on to my husband to read as well. I know that God’s light needs to shine in the wounded places in each of our hearts
My family is in the midst of a great battle and has been for quite some time. During this time, I know my relationship with Christ has grown and been the only thing holding me up. But….I have still struggled with anger and fear and hurt. But….yesterday, God gave me the clear direction that what was keeping me in bondage and unable to live a life of peace and love was holding onto anger and fear and…well, the list was long. So I prayed for God to rid me of those things. I prayed He would replace them with love, and compassion, and affection for others. To stop trying to GET from others and instead GIVE what it was I had been searching for from other who can’t give it. It was as if the weight and burdens and darkness was immediately lifted. Thank you God! It a daily battle, but I will continue to pray for God’s healing of my wounds, and that he will fill me with his love and joy and hope to Give away.
This is my first time to your blog, and I know God pointed me here today to help me continue on in letting HIM heal my hurts. It spoke right to where I am and where I need to go.
Thank you
God Bless!
Suzie- you’ve no idea how much this post was meant for me!! Thank you so much!!
Your devotion was medicine to my heart today. I am in a broken marriage and have tried to admit my failures, because i know i have failed in so many ways, but also have wounds that i have been trying to cover up. I want to allow the Lord to work on those as well as receiving forgiveness for what i have done. Thank you and many blessings to you!
Need prayer. Need discernment and direction.
I NEEDED THIS WORD! I going through a terrible divorce. My marriage ended with my husband’s affair and physical abuse. I’m in a large city with no family. It’s so scary. I’m sleeping a friend’s sofa and slowly rebuilding my life. At times it feels easier to just go back to the marriage and stop the divorce. But, I have to trust God’s plan and push through this tough time to reap the rewards.
Reading this brought me to tears. I am filled with anger, resentment and bitterness from a lifetime of emotional pain. I am very sensitive and take every comment or action personally. I just can’t get over old wrongs and hurts and I find myself withdrawing from people and feeling depressed. I don’t believe that I have ever known real love, and I find it hard to feel that God could love me either. I read it, I hear it, but I just can’t believe or feel it. I SO want my life to be different, to get over these things, to find peace and live free, but I have no idea how or where to start. This is not the life that I imagined for myself and the future looks bleak.
Funny, I thought I just stumbled upon this. But I needed to hear this and God knew that. I am new to the healing process. I don’t want to go through the hurt, pain, or past to grow. I have chosen to stuff it down instead of deal with it and I’m tired of repeating old behaviors. I appreciate your teachings and look forward to learning more.
Really enjoyed the breaking down of the crossroads….great wisdom there…thanks for sharing
Suzie- Thank you for your insights here. I went through a horrific divorce last year and made a really bad “man” decision too soon following that. I really needed your wisdom and the reminder of who I am in Christ despite my bad decision.
This was perfect for me to read first thing this morning. I have been struggling with past abuse for a very long time. I struggle with relying on God but I know my way is not working
Thank you so much for sharing what I know has taken you on your own journey with God. You don’t seem to speak from a distance, but experience, or it would not hit our hearts so “dead on”! Please keep sharing as you hear from God!! I read your devotional today on Proverbs 31, and it was exactly the perspective that I needed. I needed to see in print that God heals the wounds and sins of others on me as well as the ones I did myself!!!! Just to see it in print, for some reason, it was the Holy Spirit jumping off the page!! This is where I am in my healing; trying to get past the abuse of my childhood while now taking care of the abuser in her old age. God is showing me how to honor my mother, while being able to heal all that is broken. I thought I lived in forgiveness, when actually it must have been denial and severe PTSD. He can heal it all!!! I am so afraid and deeply saddened for my children as I have not been their Mom for about 2 years – not the one they deserve – as I have been healing. I know He will handle that as well – but what do you do .. as you say – when the momentum feels “awkward” I’m aware – now what?? thanks again! blessings to you!!
If someone had asked me before today if I had healed from my past abuse by my father, I would have said yes, until I read these things today. At the age of 53, I sat and sobbed as I realized how many issues I still struggle with. Thank you for opening a door I had closed, so that God could speak to my heart.
Debbie,
I share a story in The Mended Heart where I watched a video of a family in crisis and as I saw a little peacemaker trying to hold it all together, I fell apart. I was whole, but so whole that I had almost forgotten how far Jesus had brought me. It was a reminder of His healing power, and also a reminder to me that there were others who hadn’t experienced wholeness yet and that this was their reality. It sounds like you are experiencing the same. It’s almost a gift in a way. To remember, but to remember from the perspective of “whole”. I pray that you sense Jesus with you today in such a powerful, personal way.
God has answered your prayer for me today. I have been reading the free sample download and God has been very real and present as I have read. Thank you for sharing and for caring.
I just saw your response below my 1st comment. I am humbled that you would take the time to personally respond. I think you are correct in what you say. I think I am seeing also why I have responded to things in the past the way that I have. I have a prison ministry to the women in my state. I like long to be able to share this healing with them. Thank you for allowing God to use you in so many lives. No, we don’t have to do it alone. 🙂
This reminds me so much of a friend that is healing from wounds inflicted by another. She needs to be reminded to seperate herself from the offendor. Her value is her own and not defined by her relationship with anyone but Jesus Christ.
This devotional really spoke to me today. I would love a copy of your book so that I can heal.
I looked at the first chapter of your book, and within the first few lines I felt the tears begin to fall. I will be soon losing my job of 28 years and am fearful and hurt, yet feel there must be good things to come of it. Trust is a difficult issue for me, as I have been hurt by those closest to me that I was supposed to be able to trust. I so much want to believe wholeheartedly that God will take care of me.
Oh Connie, how hard. I pray that this is a new beginning. That these closed doors actually open doors to the desire of your heart in your vocation.
Lord, today I pray with Connie for direction and leading. Surprise her with provision. Show her creative ways to search for jobs — in ways that she may never have thought of — and lead her to a job where she can join in your heartbeat as she lives and works fully in her talents and giftings. I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand–love that song and I need that reminder often, that God can handle it all anytime, anywhere. Would love to read the book…
Sharon
The moment I read this I knew God was speaking to me!! Just recently a past abuse, that I thought I had worked through, has come back to “taunt” me. The crossroad of hardship immediately made me weep for it was as if you took the words right from my soul! At the age of 15 I was molested by one of the youth leaders at the church I attended. For years I didn’t think that act had impacted me at all. I was wrong! It is now rearing its ugly head and warping my perception of my own sexuality and is having a negative impact on my marriage. The line where you talk about how we may be finding ourselves say no where we used to say yes, really resonated with me! I realize now that I need assistance to truly heal from that one incident that shaped so much of my life. I am now 41, with 4 wonderful children and married for 8 years to my current husband. I want to move forward in my life. Thank you!
I hear your heart, Laura. It’s such a courageous, honest statement to say, “I want ALL of what God has for me in healing.” I love that! I’m truly sorry that someone who should have helped your walk with Christ marred it instead. That’s not okay. And yet I know that God sent Jesus so that we might be healed. He came for the broken hearted. He came to set free those who felt bound in chains. He came so that the oppressed might be free. He came for you, sis, and today I pray that the effects of another’s sins upon your heart and life would be lifted in His name. That healing would begin in great measure, and one month from now you’ll celebrate how far He has brought you, and one year from now you’ll dance in praise at where you are, and that this continues on day after day, and year after year.
Suzie, I read the first chapter….WoW! I have a 30 year old daughter who is struggling with a personal tragedy from the past. I know the book would be great help and support in her healing process. Thank all of you women of God from Proverbs 31 who pour out your heart and soul for the healing of others! We love and appreciate all you do.
We love what we do, Teresa. It’s such a blessing. I’m sitting her in my pjs, having got caught up in responding to comments here and on the P31 devo page, and I’m blown away by what God can do.
I have a friend going through divorce. I am going to share this book and your website with her. I think it could be of help. Blessings to you and your ministry.
The hardest crossroad for me is … Wait…. Always has been. I want answers now, and I want to know what I am doing is right. Thank you for your words of wisdom and giving me the prompting to forgive those that’ve hurt me.., again. For whatever reason it is something that I have to continually revisit and re-forgive.
To all of you who are so bravely sharing, I have just asked my strong group of friends and prayer team to join me in praying for each of you. I am praying that you sense God close and personal today. That what the enemy has dared to do to the heart of a daughter loved by God will begin to heal in His name.
Thank you!!! Sadly, I far too often feel like my prayers are not answered and always appreciate the prayers from others.
God has answered your prayer for me today. I have been reading the free sample download and God has been very real and present as I have read. Thank you for sharing and for caring.
I would love a copy of this book. At 43 years old I still struggle with my past.
“God’s plans don’t change in the crossroads” – wow…..having worked through and been delivered from various challenges in my life, I thought I was “done” with the healing part of this journey. Through it all, I’ve lost my vision of what God had planned and still can’t seem to get it back and had concluded that there must be a new plan, I just haven’t been able to hear it. But those crossroads statements struck a chord in my soul just now when I read them – especially the one above (in this comment). Guess I’ve got a bit more work to do. 🙂
My middle daughter filed for divorce yesterday and I think this book could help me to help her. We are all lost and confused at this moment as we begin our journey down this road none of our family has ever travelled down before. I love all of my grown daughters immensely and want to do what is best for her throughout this ordeal. I covet your prayers for me and my daughter and her 1 year old son!
I am at a crossroads, what I feel to be the most difficult of my life. Losing my job after 20 years has been very trying. On top of that I discovered my husband had been unfaithful. Right now the only thing I have for me and trusting in God and where this is leading me. Some days are especially hard to keep the faith in the direction he is leading me. But on those days I remind myself that he knows what best and to keep my chin up. Your posting today struck a chord with me to realize that he is preparing me for the next stage of my life and to look up and follow him. Thank you for your words of encouragement.
I wake up every morning looking for something to fill me. I love reading these devotions because it always seems to fit right in what I’m going through. Thank you!
This is the first time I have been to this blog. It is amazing to me how God has placed in front of me what I needed to read today. Tears are freely flowing and I see that there are those who share in the same pain.
Kim,
Your honesty and vulnerability warms my heart. Know that your voice is heard — by the God of the Universe who created you and loves you dearly. Praying for you! ~Steph
How liberating to know the Lord knows my name and the way for me to walk. It has required me to wait on Him to direct my steps. I feel vunerable and hesitant at times but I dare not trust in my efforts or throw myself into a direction that could sideline the Lord’s work within my life. Thank you for your openness and encouragement to trust in the Lord with ALL my heart.
This is my first visit to this blog. I am grateful that God knows the words i need to hear and provides a speaker! Thank you! I would be grateful for a copy of the book. It seems entirely too applicable to what i need now!
I am eager to read your book. I am finally working thru a struggle that I have hung onto far too long. It is scary to face it, but I am encouraged just by knowing there is a God who loves me and wants healing for me.
Thank you for your encouragement. In the life of special needs parenting, the crossroads seem to never end….so much not knowing… Yes, God knows, but the decision has to be made now for a child who can’t communicate. So much guessing. So much not knowing. So much leaping out in faith. Scary, scary leaps.
I believe this book is meant for me to read. I’m on the healing process but seemed got stucked. I would love to recive a free copy(e book if available) of this! : ) Thanks! Blessings!
Irene, you are the winner of a copy of The Mended Heart!
Hooorayyyy!!! Am I awake or just dreaming??? : ) Hi Suzie, thank you very much for your kindness! Just to let you know that it just now(4:20 pm, April 28) that I read your email telling me I’m the winner of your give away book- “The Mended Heart”. I have to get back right away to your blog to see what comments I made that day that made me win! THANK YOU once again! Sweet blessings!!! Hugs!!!
This makes me happy!
I just happened to stumble across your blog today, God’s decison, no doubt. I have been angry with God today, (and several other days) and with myself, there have been many choices to consider at my crossroads over the last several weeks and I’m struggling to know which way to turn. Is the voice I hear my own, or God’s voice, it can be very confusing, and frustrating at the same time. I was looking at your book just a couple of days ago wondering whether to read it next. Right now, I am reading Hidden Joy in a Dark Corner by Wendy Blight. The pain has been 30 plus years now, sometimes it doesn’t seem like it will ever change. Other days there is hope, but then that seems to fade pretty quickly. There is a reason, there will be healing, that I’m sure of, finding the right path, or crossroad, to get the right answers, that I’m not always quite so sure of.
Amanda,
Sounds like you’re definitely at a crossroads. Know that you are loved and prayed over! God, we ask for healing, indeed! I’m part of Suzie’s prayer team and will be asking God to show you answers. God bless you for asking such tough questions! ~Steph
Sigh … Wow! I sooo wish I could wrap a giant hug around each of the hurting women whose raw, vulnerable words are intertwined in this here Internet. Suzie, thank you for your gracious approach to handling the deep hurts of life. Praying over each situation here, and will continue to check back in the next few days ….
Psalm 34:18 comes to mind: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
~Steph {part of Suzie’s prayer team}
Thank you for your words today. I wish I could speak back to you with the eloquence that I saw when I read your words today. Not only did I need to hear, pray and medidate upon these words but I feel deeply that I need to share them with my teenage daughter as well. Thanks to our Savior for guiding me to your page today so I might make your words into action items to truly live and experience the Gospel as Christ intended.
I would love to read your book, I thank God for my mended heart.
Blessings Anna
Thank you for pointing us to Jesus as we bring our hearts to Him for mending.
“He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds.” Ps. 147:3
I would love to be able to give this to my adopted teen daughters who have been abused in the same way and are having such problems right now. Their birth mom recently came back into the picture and that has opened up memories that were long repressed. They need to hear from survivors and overcomers.
I so needed this and it speaks right to my soul, could you please pray for me as I am in the very hard place of healing after the betrayal and end to my marriage. Although legally no longer bound to my ex I do not feel unaffected by him and struggle internally and emotionally. Please also pray for our kids and the effects of this in their lives.
I needed this. Thank you. I think I am at those crossroads. Just need to figure out which one I am faced with. Thank You God for bringing me here
Thank you for this. I am currently at some crossroads that God and I need to figure out. It feels so good to know I am not alone. Thank You God for bringing me here.
I’m praying for continued healing and Godly friendships to help strengthen me and help me through this difficult time!! Thank you for sharing your story to help others!
I am behind on this study and although I read this post when it was originally published, I felt the need to re-read it again, but a little more deliberately this time. I am definitely at a crossroads, a very frustrating crossroads. I am trying desperately to figure out how to overcome debilitating fear about one thing while also trying to figure out what direction I should go in the next in regards to school/career moves. In some respects the two go hand in hand, thus the frustration on my part. While I sense God’s presence and I sense hope and great things to come, my inability to make a decision and the knowledge that overcoming this fear is what much of the future plans God has for me hinge on make me just want to sit and cry, to be perfectly honest. I know that sounds childish but sometimes it’s how I feel. Prayers about this would be much appreciated!