EVER BEEN BROKEN?

Your television is broken. You bring it to the shop. Or buy a new one. Your car stereo is broken. You get it repaired. Or buy a new one. Your computer is broken. You yell, scream, cry, tear out 100 hairs, throw it out the window – or get it repaired. Maybe you buy a new one. But have YOU ever been broken? Have you ever felt like your life is in a million pieces? You have no idea where to get it repaired. And you can’t go to Wal-Mart or Best Buy to get a new one. Ever been broken?

I have. I was so broken for so long that I believed with every ounce of me that nothing and nobody – not even God – could put my pieces back together again. And let me tell you something. I tried EVERYTHING, and I tried EVERYONE. And yes, I even tried God. I couldn’t fix me. The world couldn’t fix me. And I can tell you I became utterly convinced that even God couldn’t take my brokenness and do anything with it. But do you know what happened?

I had gotten covered over with band-aids from the world. Lots of quick fixes, slow fixes, and anything at all that I could lay my hands on in complete desperation. I thank God for those band-aids; they kept me going for a while. But that’s all they did. They kept me going. And, ultimately, all the band-aids had to come off because underneath all the tries and attempts of the world to fix me, I remained a broken, wounded, hurting, mess. You know what happens when you keep band-aids on for too long without taking adequate care of the wound underneath, right? Infection. Need I say more?

Now maybe it’s not hard for you to imagine that the world couldn’t fix me. But what about God? Why couldn’t He fix me? And why wouldn’t He fix me? He is God, after all. He should be able to do anything, right? But herein was the problem. HE can do anything, but I would not let Him. For the truth of the matter is that I held onto my brokenness for dear life, and I simply would not surrender myself to Him. But do you know something? God needed my brokenness to make me whole. I needed to trade the brokenness so He could make me new.

And do you know something else? I didn’t understand that once I gave Him my brokenness, that He would take some time to not just do a quick, temporary, patch-up, tide-me-over, haphazard, job on me. He wanted to do such a phenomenal job on me that He would need to take the time to do so. Of course, I just wanted God to “wave His magic wand” and get rid of all my pain. But God doesn’t do stuff half measures. He goes ALL out. He does His best, because God is THE best.

Guess what? When I finally surrendered, and I finally gave God the time He needed to do what HE wanted with my brokenness, the results were – and are – astounding. I have undergone such a TOTAL TRANSFORMATION that sometimes It’s hard to recognize myself. That’s not to say that I don’t still have challenges, and I don’t still have hurdles, and obstacles, and trials just like everyone else. And it’s not to say that I don’t still fall, and mess up, and scrape my knees and bruise my heart and such, but I can honestly say that the once broken woman I was has been transformed by the Lord into a predominantly loving, joyful, peaceful, passionate, dedicated, hopeful, faithful, follower of Jesus Christ.

No more band-aids. I’ve torn them all off. My heart is His. My life is His. When I finally really, truly, totally gave myself to Him, He began the healing work that turns brokenness into beauty. Is He finished with me? Of course not. In some ways, I feel like He has only just begun. But I know better. He has done much with me already, and I look forward to the work He continues to do in me – and through me.

Ever been broken? Are you covered in band-aids like I was? Or, have you stripped them off and surrendered yourself to the Lord? Has He begun a good work in you? Do you know He plans to finish what He started?

FATHER, EVERYWHERE I GO, I MEET BROKEN PEOPLE. I UNDERSTAND NOW MY BROKENNESS WAS NOT UNIQUE TO ME. WE ARE LIVING IN A BROKEN WORLD. AND I KNOW, LORD, YOU ARE THE HEALER. YOU ALONE. PLEASE, FATHER, HEAL THE BROKEN IN THE NAME OF JESUS! BRING HOPE TO THE HOPELESS, AND HEALING TO THE HURTING. 

BRING WHOLENESS TO THE BROKEN, AND SET FREE THE CAPTIVES. LORD, OPEN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO ARE HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE TO THEIR BROKENNESS. HELP THEM TO SURRENDER, AND SHOW FORTH YOUR GLORY! AMEN!