HEALING BROKENESS

I was a broken person. For some, that may come as a surprise to you. But if we are all being honest with each other, we are all broken in one way or another. We may not have any major trauma in our life, but everyone has had rejection, abandonment, wounds by family or friends, being mistreated as a child or bullied at school, and sadly even church hurt. These wounds fester for years when we aren't honest with ourselves, let alone other people who could help. Instead of addressing the things that trouble us so much and dealing with it head on, we hide it. We bury it as deep down as we can to try and forget about it. We put walls up to protect ourselves from being hurt over and over again. And those walls can be as high and solid as the biblical city of Jericho. Sometimes they're so solid and nearly impenetrable that it forms a barrier in our relationships with others so that interactions with those who should be close are shallow and lack intimacy. We become superficial. Conversations are surface level. We can't really develop emotional intimacy with one another because of those walls. Like Jericho, only God can bring those walls down (story found in Joshua 6).

God says, “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) Yet, many of us are afraid of a heart of flesh: to love and be loved. Many of us are afraid to expose our true self to others. I'm not advocating for telling everybody your deepest secrets. I'm saying we need to let down our guard with those we can truly entrust with our hearts as the Holy Spirit gives believers discernment about who to confide in. The Bible also says to confess our sins to one another so that you can be healed. (James 5:16) If we are in the body of Christ we are all family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We should care for one another's heart. We should carry each other's burdens. We need to encourage one another daily, even more as we see the Day approaching.

I was broken. You most likely have been broken. But Jesus is the one who heals us and restores us to wholeness again. If only we will let down our guard, if only we can confess everything to Him and relinquish our shame and our pain. He cares for us more than anyone in the entire universe. We must not let pride stand in the way any longer. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed. (Psalm 34:18) It is time to receive healing in your life. Don't let the wounds and the hurts of yesterday keep you in bondage. Freedom is a wonderful thing. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17) What does this mean? It means that the Holy Spirit can deliver us from everything that holds us in bondage. He heals us completely when we allow Him to come into those dark, hidden places of deep hurt and woundedness so that we can have freedom from the enemy. Satan is the one who torments us. Jesus said “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”(John 10:10) He is the Father of lies and the accuser of God's people and every bad thing comes from him. Conversely, everything that is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens (James 1:17). God is perfect. God is holy. God is righteous. God is love. God is compassionate. So why are we having such a hard time trusting Him? The enemy brings doubt, unbelief, confusion, anxiety and causes us to get stuck in places in our mind. This is why we need to be transformed in our minds by the living Word of God. We must read the Bible over and over again to let it bring renewal in our minds. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

But the devil also knows the power of the Word of God and so he distracts us every moment of the day. Constant distractions with our electronics. Constant distractions with busyness. There is always a constant to-do list. We have jobs, family obligations, house and yard work, and bills to pay. Then there are things that aren’t necessarily needed but we feel we must do. We rush off into our busy day and our Bible gets put on the shelf and Satan wins by keeping us busy. People just do not understand how the Bible, the Living and Active Word of God, has the power to transform us and deliver us through the Holy Spirit.

There are so many reasons people don't read the Bible: they don't understand it, they can't concentrate, they constantly get interrupted, they don't have enough time, and so on. Once again, this is just the enemy who is trying to thwart you from reading, meditating, and growing spiritually. Invite the Holy Spirit into your time as you read the word of God. He is our Guide, our Helper, our Teacher and our Advocate. Jesus didn't leave His disciples alone when He ascended back to heaven. He left them with something even better than His presence in the natural. He gave them the Holy Spirit to be with them 24/7, 365 days a year. “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:7, 13). Every waking moment and every moment you are asleep, the Holy Spirit is there because He never sleeps.

You may be thinking to yourself, but God has let me down. Maybe you feel God has disappointed you. Maybe you feel He hasn't answered your prayers. Could it be that you have let yourself down? Maybe you wanted something outside of God's will. Maybe you couldn't wait for His timing. Why do we blame God for everything? God's ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). Why are we placing demands on the God of the universe? Is He a genie in the bottle to satisfy our every desire? No, we have to pray in alignment with God's will. It's not that He doesn't care about our heart. It's not that He doesn't care about our needs. But He sees the big picture. We have to trust Him like a child trusts their parents. Parents know much better than their children who cannot understand everything yet because they're too young and have not experienced much of life yet. They don't know all the dangers around them. There are things you just can't explain to a child because they would not be able to comprehend it yet. Do you not think that God knows things that we don't? He knows things that are going to happen in the future that we cannot see. However, we will struggle to trust God until we really know that we are fully loved. So then, it's not a trust issue. It’s a love issue and now we have come back to a broken heart being the real issue. You know in your mind God loves you but you can’t receive it in your heart.

Children of loving parents never question whether they are truly loved. They have experienced it from birth as they are cared for and protected. In fact, they will blindly trust their parents and let them make all the decisions in their life. Small children wait on their parents to feed them, to clothe them, and take them where they need to go. Small children trust their parents to meet their needs. Children know instinctively that their parents are in control and are there to help, support and guide them in the best way they can. Why is this so hard for us when it comes to our relationship with God? When was the last time you did soul-searching? When was the last time you really got quiet before the Lord and sat at His feet? You can bring any question to Him. He is not offended or upset with our questions just like Job, who was suffering so greatly and brought his questions to God. What happened with Job? Did God strike him with lightning? No! God was compassionate and understanding. What are our lives compared to eternity? God told Job that there are things he just could simply not understand. He challenged Job on the wonders of the universe He created and everything on the Earth. How could Job possibly comprehend a God who created the Pleiades or the belt of Orion? (Job 38) God was telling Job that He created things he had never even seen!

Maybe it's time we get to know God better instead of blaming Him for our brokenness. Maybe it's time we sit at His feet a little longer each time and learn more by the Holy Spirit. We are questioning things that we simply do not understand and those things that are outside our comprehension in the natural. King David wrote: “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments. The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:15-19 ) God is supernatural. God is omnipotent and omnipresent. God is Alpha and Omega, from the beginning to the end, an eternal God. We are just like little children. We really know nothing. It is okay and to admit our weakness. This is what it means to be humble and realize how we DO need a Savior! We must admit that we really aren't in control. Because if we think we're in control, then we're living in a delusion. Every day we wake up, we can have a plan. But only God knows if we will get through the end of our day. We can plan for the future, but only God knows if we will even make it past today and into tomorrow or the next day, or the next. Why do people live in false confidence? People don't want to face their mortality. But for the believer, we shouldn't put all of our confidence in this life anyway. We should remember that God has in store for us much better and greater things. We are only here to glorify God. I think we have forgotten that. If you are a Christian, it's not about living your best life but surrendering your will to the best plan God has for your life!

Be like Mary, and sit in the presence of Jesus. Get to know Him better so He can reveal Himself more and more to you. Heal the hurt. Heal the wounds. Take down the walls. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6) . You have to do in your heart and your spirit whatever it takes to have breakthrough so you can go deeper with God. Don't just think about it, don't just talk about it, don't be hindered by the devil any longer. Do it! There is so much more to this life than you know. The Holy Spirit brings complete transformation and freedom. David wrote in the Psalms about walking about in that freedom. He had learned what it was to practice the Presence of God, sitting at His LORD’S feet worshipping Him. David didn’t let anything distract him as he called out to God in the hours of the night, lamenting of his pain and his enemies to the LORD. He understood how much God loved him with mercy and compassion. He understood his anointing from God.

God has great love and compassion for you today. God has a purpose and plan to accomplish His will through you. Will you let Him? It doesn’t matter how old you are. God always has a purpose for your life. For some people, it might be something extraordinary and for others, it might be very ordinary but nonetheless important. There's more to this life than living, working, eating and sleeping. God has such a big plan for each one of us and we never know what lives we may touch along the way if we are open to the Holy Spirit's leading. Even if you only witness to one person that person might be the next Billy Graham. Are you willing? You don’t have to stay broken. Rejected. Abandoned. Anxious. Depressed. Ashamed. God wants you want to be transformed but it is your choice as God doesn't force anybody to come to Him fully surrendered. I can't imagine a greater tragedy than missing your calling and not living the life God has for you. But every day people live and die, and never know all that God has for them. They never reach the full potential that God has in store for them. They never let God heal them. They never let God completely love them and deliver them from bondage. Every day I think of these things and it breaks my heart. The world is so lost and separated from God. If we could only understand this fully, we wouldn't hold back from sharing the truth with others. Finally, I think this song, “Graves Into Gardens” by Elevation Worship speaks of the healing and beauty that God can bring from brokenness.

I searched the world
But it couldn't fill me
Man's empty praise
And treasures that fade
Are never enough

Then You came along
And put me back together
And every desire
Is now satisfied
Here in Your love (Hey)

Oh, there's nothing better than You
There's nothing better than You
Lord, there's nothing
Nothing is better than You
(Oh, yes I know it's true)

I'm not afraid
To show You my weakness
My failures and flaws
Lord, You've seen 'em all
And You still call me friend

'Cause the God of the mountain
Is the God of the valley
There's not a place
Your mercy and grace
Won't find me again

Oh, there's nothing better than You
There's nothing better than You
Lord, there's nothing
Nothing is better than You
(I know it's true)

You turn mourning to dancing
You give beauty for ashes
You turn shame into glory
You're the only one who can

You turn graves into garden
You turn bones into armies
You turn seas into highways
You're the only one who can
You're the only one who can