We are Broken
We are Broken
We have been taught to hold it all together, put on a happy face and make sure we appear to be perfect. We wear make-up to hide our blemishes and our wrinkles. We put on spanks to conceal a few pounds. Hats cover the hair loss. We fill our day with activity so that we are never alone with our thoughts. We self-promote and talk about ourselves so that who we really are is never discovered. We smile and say we are doing great when that is far from the truth. We post and share all the great events of our life and bury the ugliness of our reality. We pretend. In actuality…we are a mess. Inside there are things we do not want to reveal. There is fear and anger. There is insecurity and doubt. There is loneliness and pain. We are broken. We are damaged. We are flawed. But it does not have to end here.
It can be confusing, really. In this world we live in, we discard broken things. If our vase is broken we pick up the pieces and toss them in the trash. If our relationship is broken – we walk away from it. We view things that are broken as worthless – no longer having value. We see our brokenness as weakness and weakness as bad. We are broken and we feel compelled to hide it. Scriptures tell us over and over that God’s ways are not our ways. You see, He does not view brokenness as worthlessness. He sees beauty in the brokenness of our spirit. It is in our brokenness that we come to understand our true, deep need for Jesus. He is the One who can put the pieces back together.
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
There are things in all of our lives that need to be broken…our pride, our selfishness, our sinful habits, and our stubbornness. In Jennie Allen’s Bible study, “Stuck” she says, “Shame has paralyzed us. We are afraid to come out of hiding and admit we are flawed. It is ridiculous because we are all flawed. God knows it and we know it. Why are we pretending? If we trust in Christ, we are forgiven. The space in which we are stuck, lacking, sinful, broken and in need, is the space in us that longs for God, longs for forgiveness. When we soberly view ourselves and our sin, we see our need and call out for God.”
So today, it is my prayer that we will accept our brokenness. That we will pick up all of our broken pieces and lay them at the cross. That we will cry out to Jesus and that we will allow Him to put us back together piece by piece by piece. God can take something that is broken and make it into something much better for His glory. God allowed Jesus to be broken so that we might be healed. The night before Jesus died, he broke bread and said, “This is my body, which is broken for you.” Because He died – our brokenness can be healed.
We are broken. Our brokenness exposes our need for Jesus. Only when we acknowledge this need can God begin to make us whole. It is only when we confess our brokenness that God can begin to make us into who He wants us to be – who He created us to be. Surrendering our brokenness to Him frees us. It frees us because we no longer have to do it on our own. We surrender our weakness to Him and He makes us strong.
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
His grace is enough. He is all we need.