On Brokenness

A few days back, I heard a worship song that I hadn’t heard in a long time: Gracefully Broken, by Matt Redman. It’s a beautiful song and I would encourage you to listen to it. It really got me thinking though about the whole concept of being broken.

When we think of something breaking, it typically isn’t pretty. The glass that gets knocked off the counter that shatters on the floor. The child’s toy that is loved and played with so much, it can’t take it all and it falls apart. The appliance that manages to work just fine until the warranty is up. You get the idea.  I’m sure you can add many more examples of your own.

We don’t like to find out that something broke. We don’t want to be the one that breaks something. And we certainly don’t want to be broken ourselves.

Brokenness in people can come in many ways. The particular flavor I’ve become acquainted with in recent months comes through grief. One definition of something that is broken is when there is something missing – some part – whose absence makes the remaining pieces not work. Or at least not as well. Think of the toy car missing a wheel or the barbecue grill that only has one burner working. You can still use them. You may still even be able to get some use out of them, but it’s certainly not the same as when they were complete and whole. It’s the same with people. When we lose someone we love, we’ve lost part of ourselves and we find ourselves broken and incomplete. Life moves forward, but it’s certainly not the same.

I had a conversation about this brokenness thing to a dear friend the other day and the following words came out of my mouth, “It’s okay to be broken. That’s when God can really work on us.” I said it to encourage her. They weren’t my words. It was obviously the Holy Spirit speaking through me, because being broken does NOT feel okay. And it is NOT something we would seek out or desire. That said, it’s the second sentence that makes the difference.

God wants to “work on us”. God wants to “fix us”. We may not think of it in this way all the time, but He is always working and moving in our lives to help us get us closer to the highest and best versions of ourselves. You may not consider yourself broken per se and in need of “fixing”, but we all fall short and need His help in all things and at all times.

Back to the song… It’s really a song of surrender. Here’s a sample of some of the lyrics:

Take all I have in these hands

And multiply, God, all that I am

And find my heart on the altar again

Set me on fire, set me on fire

My heart stands in awe of Your name

Your mighty love stands strong to the end

You will fulfill Your purpose for me

You won't forsake me, You will be with me

All to Jesus now

Holding nothing back

I surrender

Your power at work in me

I'm broken gracefully

I'm strong when I am weak

I will be free

Here I am, God

Arms wide open

Pouring out my life

Gracefully broken

The moral of the story for me, is that we need to do with our brokenness what we need to do with everything else in our lives – trust God with it. Trust that He is going to be our strength, Trust that He is still going to fulfill His purpose in us. Trust that He won’t leave us or forsake us.

It may not feel graceful, but it’s His grace, not ours, that is at work in us.

Our job is to surrender. Surrender to Him and surrender to the process. Make ourselves available to Him. Cooperate with Him. Trust Him.

The lyrics to a song can be very inspiring. But the Word of God even more so. Here are just a couple of things The Bible has to say about brokenness.

“The Lord is close the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”  ~ Psalm 34:18 (NLT)

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” ~ Psalm 147:3 (ESV)

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” ~ Psalm 51:17 (NIV).

We’ll end with this one. Looking at the big picture. The words of Paul to the church at Corinth:

“Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:43 (NLT).

I believe our lives here on earth repeatedly mimic - or maybe better said, foreshadow - our ultimate death and resurrection. We fall, we get up. Things in our lives break, and God heals us. He brings our strength back. Typically, greater than it was before. Our weaknesses and brokennesses are buried – and He raises us back up. If, and that word isn’t to be taken for granted… IF we let Him. If we surrender to His work and will in our lives, then we can completely trust Him to get us through anything and strengthen us in the process.

I’m counting on it.