THE BROKENHEARTED

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.” .(Matthew 6:25-26 The Message Bible)

Last week I was asking my Alexa device to play some old songs as I was working around the house. One of the songs, “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted,” caused me to reflect back on my junior year in high school. My freshman and sophomore years I had to walk from the eastside of town to the westside of town because our family was going through an economic downturn; experiencing hard times. Oh, let me just make it plain! We were poor in those years, and our parents could not afford bus fare. It is not like the new days when a kid turns 16, they get a car, without even having a job! No, we had to hoof it and experience first-hand what Dad used to talk about from his childhood, “Walking to school in several inches of snow, turning backward at times because of a strong winter wind.” Yes, winter, spring, summer or fall, rain, sun, sleet, or snow, we walked to school my first two years of high school. Let me throw this in, “But God was our protector on every walk! The Lord was our Shepherd on the journey across town.” Oh, my! I just had a praise the Lord moment!

Well, in my junior year, I finally got to ride the city bus! I’m telling you, I had some fun times going and coming with our schoolmates. On some days, the bus ride was the best part of the day for me. When the song I mentioned above came out, there were two friends, Phyllis and Ralph, who burst out in song, singing “What Becomes Of A Brokenhearted” as a duet on our bus ride to school. I don’t think they were in any of the school’s choirs, and I don’t remember them being in any musical or talent show, but as they say, “They sang that song!”

While I was having some good memories, I got serious minded and thought about people who are brokenhearted today for one reason or another. I wanted to know, as expressed in the words sung by Jimmy Ruffin, “What Becomes Of A Brokenhearted?” I mean I thought about people who were going through breakups, people burdened with grief, and people with a boatload of disappointment. I thought about those being deprived and in desperate straits of life because of broken promises. I thought of people who needed help, a healing, to handle their hurting that matched the highest and longest lasting type of grief. I thought about the lonely, specifically those who had been left alone unexpectedly and for a duration that was also not expected. So, while I enjoyed listening to the song by Mr. Ruffin, I diverted my attention to learning what the word of God has to say about what becomes of the brokenhearted from a child of God’s perspective. I found the following verse. Keep it handy. If you don’t need it now, perhaps you will in the future, or possibly this verse to minister to someone who needs you to feel uplifted. Read it! Remember it! Refer to it when needed for yourself or others. Be blessed!

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18 NASB)

Committed to the climb,

Mark L. King