Hello everyone!
What do we do with brokeness? Many people either try to hide from their brokeness, pretend it doesn't exist in someone else's life or try to patch it with surface level, shallow self-help or worse, biblical cliches. A biblical cliche is a saying, loosely based on scripture or a hymn, that denotes shallow meaning at best when said to someone who's hurt and pain run much deeper than the surface. Biblical cliches neither bring comfort nor do they bring healing. I will blog further on this subject on a later day but I wanted to define it here.
The truth is brokeness makes us uncomfortable. We don't like it in ourselves and we don't like it in others. We do whatever we can to escape it sometimes, a decision that can lead us down roads we do not intend such as addiction and living a life in fear.
I believe we should not only face our own brokeness but we should face it in other people if we are going to help them. When we face our brokeness, when we accept that it is real and that we need help and work, we start down the road to wholeness. Most importantly when we let Jesus into our dark places to shine His light, those places begin to heal. When we face other's brokeness, we meet them where they are and that can start them on the road to recovery. They will know they are loved, supported and not alone.
Now let me say here that I am not saying to face the brokeness of someone else by letting them drag you down into their addiction, bad habit or emotional depression. That's not facing their brokeness, that's wallowing in it with them. What I am saying is acknowledge they are broken and they need help and then provide them with the love, support and boundaries that they need. If they will not accept love, support and/or boundaries, you may need to remove yourself from the situation to stay healthy. Keep in mind we can never help who does not want our help, neither can Jesus.
What we can't afford to do is to pretend brokeness does not exist in ourselves or someone else. By virtue of ignoring our brokeness or someone else's, we give it too much power and we keep things in the dark that need to desperately be brought into the light so they can be cleaned like a wound and heal completely. We have to be uncomfortable sometimes. We have to make the hard decisions in life to live a better, more abundant life. We have to go through some healing and some mess to live free at times.
I have not only had to acknowledge my own brokeness in the last few years but my late husband's as well. His brokeness led to my brokeness so acknowledging that on two fronts was not only hard it was also very eye opening on both a personal and spiritual level. I can tell you Jesus has done a lot of good work in me and He is still working. To be able to look back and see things for what they were and not for what I imagined them to be is a blessing! This has also given me the ability to see brokeness in others and approach them with compassion.
We all have a story we need to acknowledge. We all have wounds that need healing. If we hide in the dark, they never get healed and our story can never be told. In many ways, we can never be trully free without our wounds healing. Wouldn't you rather be free? I know I would!
I want to encourage everyone to come out of the dark and let your brokeness be exposed to the light of Jesus. I promise you He will neither condemn you nor be surprised by anything he sees. He is not afraid of your brokeness. He already knows what is in your heart anyway and He loves you all the same!
I will leave you with a verse to ponder:
Psalm 147:3; He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
He can and will heal you if you will but let Him look at your brokeness. He will replace it with His light and His love and you will be a new person. I can promise you, you have nothing to lose.
Until next time,
Elizabeth