The Blessing in Brokenness {Psalm 33-36}

Did you know there are blessings in being broken? It seems like such a contradiction of words. The world seems to exalt pride-filled people and look down on broken ones. We applaud success and shun the broken, but not God, never God. In fact, it is in our pain and brokenness that God is closest to us, whether we realize it or not.

 Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”.

The word brokenness refers to the state of defeat and surrender we experience when hardships come and we can’t seem to get past it. None of us enjoy the feeling of brokenness, but it’s powerful in bringing the spiritual benefits we covet into our lives. Being broken can also give us a new perspective on the Lord’s plans for our lives.
Brokenness tends to be God’s antidote for our self-centeredness. I like what Rick Warren had to say about what God can do in our broken state:

God says,

·         For the heart that’s guilty, I’ll give you a heart that’s forgiven.

·         For the heart that’s resentful, I’ll give you a heart that’s full of peace.

·         For the heart that’s anxious, I’ll give you heart that’s confident.

·         For the heart that’s lonely, I’ll give you a heart full of love.

·         That heart that has been bitter and angry? I’ll give you a heart that is forgiving and loving and generous instead. Let me do a heart transplant in you. I will set you free.

Why do we need freedom? Because we’re all enslaved. We’re a slave to the expectations of other people. We’re slaves to past memories. We’re slaves to future fears. We’re slaves to current pressure. We’re slaves to the opinions of society, and on and on and on.

 
If we’re honest, I think we’d probably all admit that most of our time spent before God has consisted of asking Him to bless us. We ask God for healing, for success… we want Him to bless our family, our jobs, our plans and so on, but have you ever asked for brokenness? Even though His word is very clear there will be blessings from it;

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” – Isaiah 57:15

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” – Isaiah 66:2

I know up until now I’ve tried to paint a roses picture of brokenness, but there is a tremendous amount of pain that comes from,
Broken lives.
Broken marriages.
Broken relationships.
Broken families.
And broken dreams.

Along with our brokenness come the lies that whisper to the deepest parts of our soul during our weakest moments in order to keep us down and broken, “You’re useless… a failure…beyond restoring… you’ll never experience joy again…” And we struggle to hide the scars of shame, rejection, and the lack of self-worth.

BUT God can break through ALL of that. 

With God nothing and no one is ever beyond healing! No one is ever too broken for restoration. He can actually bring us to the point where we will glory in our scars, and have an amazing story to tell, if we are willing! The Lord once said, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) Do you take Him at His word?

With God, brokenness has the POWER, unlike anything else, to bring forth new beauty and strength in our lives! It’s also powerful in inspiring others going through where you’ve already been!

We have a Healer; One who is in the business of restoration! Who is able to put the broken pieces (families, marriages, lives, etc) that no longer seem to fit, back into a perfect design, for He was once broken and poured out for us! He doesn’t simply patch us back together, but beautifully pieces everything together with grace so that we’ll be stronger, and more beautiful than before.

That’s Jesus, my Savior! Who brings new LIFE to all that is broken, for He was willing to take on the brokenness of the world in order to set us free!
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If you are in a season of brokenness; broken dreams, marriage, relationships, whatever it may be I'd like to pray for you and have the others on WitW praying as well. Please either leave your request in the comments, or on our Facebook group  and we'll commit to praying that you'll soon begin to see God bringing restoration in your life! I'd truly be blessed to do that for you!

Blessings,

sue