![]() Long-time New York Senator Patrick Moynihan, then Assistant Secretary of Labor, mourned the assassination of President John F. Kennedy with the words, “To be Irish is to know, in the end, the world will break your heart.” ![]() Moynihan, like Kennedy, was of Irish descent and had found joy in the election of America’s first Irish-Catholic President. On November 22, 1963, the world broke Moynihan’s heart. Since you are reading this post, it is clear that you have lived in this world long enough to know the truth of Moynihan’s protestation. As with the Irish, so with all others. As a preacher / teacher and as a Christian, I spend much time in the written Word of God – the Bible. One thing I enjoy about the Bible is its honesty. The writers of the Bible did not hide the proverbial “dirty laundry.” While we read about faith, hope, love, peace, joy, and such things in the Scripture, we also read accounts of doubt, despair, hatred, war, and sadness. We read David’s great poems of praise, yet we also learn of his tremendous moral failure. Martha gives a great confession, yet also complains when her sister won’t help with the chores. Peter preaches boldly, yet also denies loudly. The Bibles tells of such disunity of decisions. It also tells of the less-than-fair outcomes for the faithful. In Hebrews, the great faith chapter, we read about men and women who “By faith” served God and found great reward. The same chapter provides examples of not-quite-so-happy results.
Knowing his readers would not like to stop there, Hebrew’s writer continues.
For even the sawed-in-two and destitute, the world’s power to break hearts did not prevail. The final verse informs us that God planned something better. That something better arrived previously in Someone. The same Someone Who said ...
Yes, the world will break the heart of the Irish (and all other peoples), but the world will not win. Even death, the world’s final battle plan, stands no chance in trying to claim victory.
![]() The world has broken your heart and it will again. Yet take heart for the One Who has overcome is available to you. Trust Him to mend your heart. #ordinarylives
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