I’ve never actually worn armor, but I’ve certainly seen armor. It is protective, but also can be heavy and stifling. That’s how my heart has been for years. Surrounded by armor, which left me feeling heavy and stifled.

Each time I experienced a major emotional hurt, I added more armor to my already stifled heart. I thought that if I armored my heart well enough, I would no longer feel emotional pain and be able to push forward. I was afraid if I allowed myself to cry, I would fall apart completely and leave me vulnerable, which is a feeling I do not enjoy. Little did I know that I was already damaging myself through this carefully and misguided attempts at covering up emotional pain.

Sure, I cried, but not on a level where I could really open my heart. I eventually got to the point where I didn’t know how to rid myself of the armor.

Then I met Jesus and he stripped the armor from my heart. It leaves me vulnerable, which is frightening for me. However, He is carrying me and my damaged, but unburdened, heart. As my heart has been opened, the old wounds are coming roaring back to the surface. Man, this hurts. It really, really hurts, but through this hurt comes healing, the healing of Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can strip away the armor surrounding our hearts and heal our old wounds. It leaves us vulnerable, but He can carry us. He’s got this.