I once had a lady tell me that her marriage was like a broken vase. She said because of her husbands lies their relationship was no longer like a new beautiful vase but a broken one that would never be good for anything. This lady was sitting in the middle of a porn show watching her husband work his job in the industry where the lies began. I told her that we are all broken vases and that just because your vase has cracks and is broken does not mean it is useless.The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)

Brokenness is unpleasant to think about and even more difficult to talk about. Yet, brokenness is valued by God,so much  that He repeatedly mentions it in His Word. Some of the best promises to be found in Scripture are intertwined with brokenness.

    God loves brokenness and its accompanying humility. It draws Him near to us, and us to him, like a magnet and metal.Brokenness gets His attention and moves His hand. He becomes involved in the lives of the brokenhearted. He comes to bind up their wounds (Psalm 147:3). What is crushing in on you? What is causing your heart to hurt? What trial are you currently walking through? What is commanding your attention and causing you injury?

    Stop and think a moment. Instead of looking up from a your perspective and asking why, ask God to show you His perspective. You know it tends to be divinely opposite ours. He looks at things so much differently than we do. That is why He wants to give us His view of the  situation. He speaks to us, and to our hearts, through that Word.

    When I think of brokeness I think of Peter. Peter suffered the brokenness of sin and shame. The Lord had warned him, yet he failed anyway. Despite his promises, Peter denied the Lord three times. Peter was at his lowest when the rooster crowed. He realized then his sin and what he had done.  I have had a moment or two like that. Maybe you have, too. It’s that moment when you realize that you’ve dishonored the Lord and let him down, even though you promised yourself, and the Savior, that you wouldn’t let him down … again. Peter is our great reminder that our failures don’t determine our future with the Lord. God can take those failures and make something good of them. While our messy failures are not his plan for us, he can take our messes and restore us back into his plan. So please, don’t give up when you think you have failed the Lord. Instead, let your sin break you and then come back and openly confess that sin to the Lord and be restored. He will bless you and use you to bless others if you will come back to him.

 

Steve-Oh

LoveJesus.LovePeople