Brokenness

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“Oh, no Mama!  A bwoken moon!”  My three year old son exclaimed from the backseat of our car. 

I smiled and stifled the giggle that rose up inside me.  “Oh son, the moon’s not broken, we just can’t see the whole thing right now.  But you wait, in a few more days it will be all round again.”

This was one of those moments that I have treasured in my heart.  That little boy is all grown up now and I miss the simple truth that comes out of the mouths of babes.

As I pull out from my treasure trove and reminisce on this sweet memory, I find myself wondering . . .

What if . . . what we see as brokenness here on this planet, my all-wise, all-knowing Father sees as wholeness. 

From His perspective . . .

Could brokenness be the place of healing? 

Could sorrow be the cup of joy?  

Could my tears be the pathway to laughter?

Life is pain . . .  
a loved one is diagnosed with a terminal illness, a kindred spirit moves away.

And the aching of the heart . . .  
the distance of a wayward child, the longing of a mother’s heart.

And brokenness . . . 
the loss of a job, the confusion of a mental illness, a family split apart by divorce.

Is God in the pain?  Is He in the brokenness? Is He is in the aching of my heart?

Yes, Yes and Yes.  "I AM" . . .  
I hear Him whisper in the dark corner of my heart.  I hear him shout it in the midst of my pain.

When we cry out, “Look God, it’s broken!” 

He shouts, “It is FINISHED!”

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.  Isaiah 53.5

He sees the WHOLE.  He knows the Future.  He’s working His Plan.

Trust Him. 

Not your feelings.  Not your circumstances.  Not your pain.

And remember, what seems like brokenness here, will one day be wholeness in Heaven. 

It’s a promise. 

Hold on to it.  Don’t forget it.  Don’t turn away from it. 

Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory.  They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.  1 Corinthians 15.43

A Front Row Seat

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Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.    Hebrews 10:24-26 (NLT)

 

Why does God want me to be in community with other believers?  Why can’t I just do church on my own?  People always make things so complicated and messy. 

 

Could it be that, being in community with others causes us to grow in ways we never would on our own?

 

This past year, there was a young woman in my Bible Study who slunk in with a hoodie over her head and slouched in her chair not making a single comment the whole evening until we got to prayer time.  When we did, she blurted out that she didn’t want to be there.  She wasn’t going to come but her sister had “made” her. 

 

In the weeks that followed, she stuck it out and came every time, whether she felt like it or not.  Over the course of the year, the group encouraged, challenged and supported her as she slowly surrendered her life to God. 

 

We had front row seats, as we watched God transform a life and it was breathtaking!

 

At the end of the year, she wanted to be baptized.  When we were meeting together to talk about her baptism I reminded her of the “hoodie week”.  She gasped and said, “God has changed me so much, I don’t even recognize that person anymore!”  That’s what transformation does.

 

Living in community is God’s design.  It’s what He desires for each one of us.  Community often brings joy and sorrow, beauty and pain, healing and messiness but don’t let the dark side keep you from experiencing the hope of community.  The dark and the light both serve their purpose in making us more like our Savior.

 

Lord, I confess that I am drawn to the comfortable and simple.  I don’t want complicated and difficult.  I want easy.  But that’s not Your plan, that’s mine.   Today, I choose to be in community with Your followers even if it’s messy because I know it is what you designed especially for me.  Amen. 
 

The First Step

 

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!”  (Matthew 5.43-44 NLT)

 

“Lord, is there any bitterness in my life?”  I asked the question half-heartedly knowing that there wouldn’t be.  I had just worked through a seven year stretch of bitterness and felt pretty sure that there couldn’t be any more.
 

 

But there was no waiting, no hesitation for God to speak.  It was immediate and right on point, with the precision only God can do.  He laid bare with his ever loving scalpel an area of sin that had been festering in my heart for over twenty years!

 

 

Bitterness had burrowed deep into my soul.  With every wrong done to me I allowed it to tunnel deeper and deeper, until it had become a part of who I was.  I relished and justified the bitterness because  I was in the right.  

 

 

 

 "But just because you're in the right doesn't give you the okay to hold on to your bitterness."

God's gentle voice prodded.

 

“Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy.” (Proverbs 14.10 NLT)

 

God’s illuminating truth revealed the corruption of my heart. 



But how do I yank this out of my life?   Where do I go?

 

“Come to ME . . . Pray for those who have wounded you, for those who have done you wrong.”

 

Prayer does the unexplainable, in the heart of the one who prays. 

 

What about you?  Have you asked God to show you the bitterness that lurks in your own heart?  Are you praying for those who have hurt you and done you wrong? 

 

Take the first step and pray . . .

 

Lord, I surrender my bitterness to You, all the those things I used to justify my bitterness because I was wronged.  I NEVER want to add another brick to my wall of bitterness.  Root out this darkness in me and teach me to come to You.  Amen.