How to Share Your Faith Using Behind These Hazel Eyes
Kelly Clarkson, otherwise know as the First American Idol winner, has found her hit song, Behind These Hazel Eyes, well-situated on Billboard's Top 10 chart for several months. Clarkson has had impressive success and staying power since her lightning rise to fame on American Idol I, and since millions of people have heard her latest hit, it deserves a closer look.
The lyrics to Behind These Hazel Eyes are sadly haunting and speak openly about the hurt of severed relationships and the pain of broken trust. No doubt one of the reasons this song has remained on the Top 10 chart for so long is because the pain and hurt it speaks to is widely experienced in today's culture. It speaks to the kind of emotional pain that can be devastating in its long-range impact on individuals.
Here's a sample of the lyrics:
Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes
I told you everything
Opened up and let you in
You made me feel alright
For once in my life
Now all that's left of me
Is what I pretend to be
So together, but so broken up inside
'Cause I can't breathe
No, I can't sleep
I'm barely hangin' on.
What do you do when people you trust hurt the deep, down, inside part of you? Do you clam-up and build a protective wall around your heart, blocking out the possibility of future hurt? Everyone faces hurt and emotional pain in their life. In Clarkson's music video, it's obviously a marriage that's hit the rocks. In your world it may be the breakup of a friendship or dating relationship or your parents' divorce. But regardless of what has caused the hurt, it can be tough to figure out what to do with all that pain when it comes crashing down on you.
The very best thing to do in the midst of the pain is to run to God with it. When tough or scary times come at us, the Bible tells us
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deut. 31:6).
Many times when individuals walk through really hard stuff, they feel like God has abandoned them, but He has promised that He will never leave us. God never promised we would have a life free of troubles and hurt, but He has promised to always be there to walk through the hard times with us.
Paul says in Rom. 8:38-39,
"I'm absolutely convinced that nothing--nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable--absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us."
That's quite a statement from a guy who was jailed, shipwrecked and beaten up on a regular basis for his faith. Hurt and disappointment can be wedges that either push us closer to God or farther away from Him. Some people fill their hurt with material stuff, some with drugs or alcohol, and some with busyness. In the end, none of those things work. Only running to God in the midst of the pain, will bring lasting relief, lasting hope, and lasting purpose.
One of the amazing things about God is that He is always in the business of redeeming the pain in our lives and somehow, someway, turning it to be used for good. When you walk through tough stuff, know that God might someday use you in the life of someone else who needs help surviving the trouble that's come into their life. The Bible tells us in 2 Cor 1:4,
"He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us."
So when you see your friends hurting, come up alongside them with understanding and compassion. Try some of the following ideas:
- Ask how you can help.
- Share your own experience with hurt and share how your relationship with God helped you through to the other side. Explain how they can have that kind of relationship with God too. For help with this see the GOSPEL Journey.
- Ask if you can pray for them. Very few people will actually refuse this genuine offer. Pray with them, out loud, right on the spot, if you are comfortable doing that. If not, pray for them privately, but let them know that you are praying.
You don't have to be pushy - just be a kind and caring friend, offering the Good News of God's grace and love to your hurting friends. Unfortunately, the world is full of people who fit the lyrics "Here I am, once again, I'm torn into pieces . . . broken up, deep inside." Remember, God's in the business of redeeming what's broken.
