Dear Heavy Heart,

I know you.

I know your dark dread that rests heavy like a black cauldron full of the stew of worry, troubles, and bad news.

Listen, I know of medicine for a heart like yours. I know relief from that anxious dread, those clouds of gray skies and stormy horizons that choke your chest and steal your breath.

Don’t scoff at this medicine, oh Heavy Heart. Don’t discount its healing properties, just because its doses don’t fit your box or bottle.

Take as directed, full strength, skipping no doses, and repeat as necessary. Enjoy unlimited refills. Free.

Here is the short form prescription, adopted from the wise Physician’s own hand. (The full prescription can be found in Psalm 100).

The abbreviated version, in measured doses:

• Shout
• Sing
• Thanks
• Praise
• Bless His name

Again, skip no steps. For best results, find an isolated, private place.

1)      Shout joyfully. Go ahead, get loud. Ignore yourself for the moment, Heavy Heart, and cry out loud. Shout adoration to God, whose own heart knows heaviness and invites yours for healing.

2)      Sing it out. Put on worship music or let your voice rise solo, but sing a song of exaltation to your God. Oh Heart, sing!

3)      Give thanks. Thank Him for the stuff that’s good…then go ahead, thank Him for His hand of strength and provision and mercy for the stuff that’s bad.

4)      Praise Him. Praise Him for who He is—good and merciful and loving and surely able to father and shepherd you through dark days. Praise Him for what He’s done in the past and what He can and will do now on your behalf.

5)      Bless His Name—Jesus! The Name of names, the one true Name, the Name that all shall bow to and confess upon that Day. Oh heart, bless His Name. Oh soul, give Him honor.

Dear Heavy Heart,

I know you. But I shall not miss you.

Yours truly,
Me

Psalm 100 (NKJV)

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
   Serve the Lord with gladness;
   Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
   It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
   We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
   And into His courts with praise.
   Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
   His mercy is everlasting,
   And His truth endures to all generations.