HEARTBREAK SUCKS, but unfortunately it is part of the human experience, and no one can avoid it. It’s going to happen to you, whether self-inflicted or an unexpected incident, however, it doesn’t have to consume your forever. You can get out of the cycles of constant heartbreak, and step into a life where you learn, with Jesus, to guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23).

It’s not going to be easy, but I want to help you break up with self-inflicted heartbreak.

Whether you are currently in a season of heartbreak or have recently walked through it, you know that the pain of a broken heart is almost worse than the pain of a broken arm. I believe if we polled the audience right now and asked the question, would you rather have a broken arm or a broken heart? We would get an overwhelming response of people who would take the broken arm.

Why is that?

I believe it’s because the healing process of a physical injury is more straight-forward than the healing process of an emotional one.

We want results now, and we definitely don’t want to wander into an unknown healing process with no end date. So, why does my heart break? Am I alone in my heartbreak? How do I stop breaking my own heart?

Why does my heart break?

Heartbreak was never a part of God’s original design. In Genesis 1, God created human beings in his image and then He rested and saw that it was all very good. Heartbreak is what happened in Genesis 3, when sin came in and filled the world. Now pain, heartbreak, and trouble is a part of our everyday lives, even though that was never the intent for our human experience.

Although heartbreak is not a new concept, scientists have recently discovered the connection between emotional and physical pain is greater than originally realized.

It seems silly to think that that was just now realized when the Bible has said that all along – I mean ask anyone who has been betrayed, lied to, cheated on, I’m guessing 10/10 they will tell you they felt unpleasant physical symptoms from such an awful emotional experience.

In studying about heartbreak and the connections between emotional and physical pain, I found that Dopamine and Oxytocin are the hormones released when we “feel good”, which then makes us want to repeat certain behaviors to release these hormones over and over again, this is also commonly described as the feeling of “being in love”. On the other hand, when we experience heartbreak, loss, or betrayal, another hormone is released, the stress hormone called cortisol. This is the fight or flight hormone, and too much of this hormone can cause extreme unpleasant physical symptoms such as anxiety, panic, nausea, weight gain, or weight loss.

The reason I bring all of this to your attention is that we are not helpless in stopping the cycles of heartbreak. Yes, heartbreak is inevitable, but there are ways to avoid self-inflicted heartbreak, and knowing the connection between our emotional experiences and physical symptoms are important in combating and stopping unnecessary heartbreak.

Am I alone in my heartbreak?

You are not alone. Unfortunately, every human on this planet experiences heartbreak in some way. It may not all be at the same level, but heartbreak is unavoidable for each person, but taking it further than that – I believe two of the greatest lies the enemy tells us is: you are alone in your heartbreak and no one has ever been as heartbroken as you.

I’m going to debunk both of those right now:

Lie #1, you are alone in your heartbreak.

Truth: God is near to you, he’s close to you, he’s close to the brokenhearted, the ones who are crushed by the weight of this world.

You read that in Psalm 34:18,

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

In Psalm 56:8 you read another powerful truth,

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”

So, the next time the enemy comes at you with “you’re alone in your heartbreak”, come back at him with God is always close to me and not only is He close, He collects my tears and records each one.

Lie #2, No one has ever been as heartbroken as you are right now.

Truth: Many people in scripture have struggled with devastating heartbreak

In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah was grieving her heart’s unfulfilled desire to get pregnant, in 2 Samuel 11, Bathsheba had just suffered the sudden loss of her husband who was killed in battle, and many more stories of grief, loss, and heart break flood the Bible.

The enemy knows that when we realize that we aren’t alone and that other peoplehave suffered just as bad if not worse, we then feel a relief, peace, and comfort in our heart break (Revelation 12:11):

 “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.”

That is why sharing your story is not only important for your healing, but important

for others to heal. Stop believing the lies that you are alone or that no one has experienced pain like you, people in scripture all the way to present day are with you, fighting for you, and have experienced the same things you are currently experiencing. You are not alone

How To Stop Breaking Your Own Heart.

We all know we can’t fully control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it.

But what if I told you, you had more control of the pain you feel than you think.

Hear this. We are not responsible for the pain, trauma, and heart ache that happens to us, but we are responsible for feeling it, processing it, healing from it, and overcoming our hurts, habits, and hang-ups that lead us back in the arms of the very heart break we hate to experience.

This is in our control.

In the physical sense, if you get in a car accident because you are speeding, the chances of getting in another car accident from speeding go way down, why? Because you felt the pain of the accident, healed, learned and stopped the cycle.

In the emotional sense, it’s different, and you see this a lot: say you get in a relationship with someone emotionally unavailable, they never open up, you feel alone, isolated, and worthless, you end the relationship, feel the pain of heartbreak, then without even another thought and because society tells you, you get right back out there, and what do you know… you meet someone else emotionally unavailable.

But why? Didn’t you just go through that? Yes, but you stopped at step one, the heartbreak.

You didn’t feel it, process it, heal from it and stop, you just covered it up and got right back out there, you wouldn’t do this with a broken arm now would you? You wouldn’t break your arm and go to work the next day like it didn’t happen, so why do we do this with emotional wounds? How can we stop breaking our own hearts?

#1 Feel. After you experience heart break, feel it.
Cry it out. Give yourself an allotted amount of time to just really mourn the loss, betrayal, breakup, etc. Don’t rush the feeling, embrace the pain, and allow the pain to lead you into processing it.

#2 Process. Find the root. Why did that hurt you like it did? Is there something from your childhood that triggers you? Are there insecurities that have creeped back up because of this heart break. Also, it’s hard to process alone. Talk about your heartbreak with trusted others and allow the process to lead you into healing.

#3 Heal. Once you have felt the hurt, processed the hurt, now it’s time to heal from the hurt. Talk to a therapist, find good community, serve at your local church, get into your word, listen to worship music, let God heal you from the areas you now know you need healing. Start with prayer and believe in faith that God can heal the very parts of you that are broken because He can, and after healing, allow that to redirect you to stop the cycle.

#4. Stop. You now have felt what you needed to feel, processed, healed and now it’s time to stop the madness – to stop the cycle. You are healed so walk in your healing. Walk in the faith that God is a God of redirection and new purpose. There is life after heart break and not just a life where you survive, but one where you thrive.

I hope this encourages you to pursue healing and stop the very cycles in your life that are causing you to break your own heart.

Heartbreak doesn’t have the final say: Our God does.

- Kayla Nordlum