Psalm 147:3
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
The world is full of broken people. We aren’t all broken the same way. Our breaks are different. The causes of our breaks are different. The effects of our breaks are different. Broken is broken though. It’s hard to admit brokenness. I know. That's why this is broken into two pieces. My testimony of brokenness will help someone I'm sure. However, I've got to build up the nerve to share it. Admitting you’re broken could leave you open
to judgment. Admitting you’re broken
could leave you open for ridicule.
Admitting you’re broken could leave you vulnerable. Admitting you’re broken could leave you
embarrassed. However, admitting you’re
broken is the only way to be mended.
Life has a way of breaking all of us. It’s kind of like when a rock hits your
windshield. Sometimes it doesn’t shatter
all the way. It may just leave a little speck. You’re not going to replace your windshield
for a little speck. You’re going to keep
driving with that speck. Sometimes if it’s
small enough, you’ll totally forget about it.
Then something will come along that causes the speck to spread a
little. It’s still not bothering you
much; it’s just a little crack. If you’ve
ever had a crack in your windshield though, you know that weather and time will
cause that crack to spread a little bit more.
Sometimes it shatters on you, and you have to get it fixed. Other times, the crack just eventually prevents
you from seeing clearly, so you have to get it fixed. There are some though that will keep driving
with the crack. Our brokenness happens
just like that crack in the windshield.
The initial rock hits us, but we don’t do anything about it. That speck spreads to various aspects of our
life over time because we don’t address it.
The pressures of life push on that crack and force it to keep spreading. People tend to do one of three things with
their brokenness: ignore the crack and
keep going through life with it, fix the crack once it starts hindering their
lives, or let the crack shatter them to pieces.
How your brokenness affects you
That one speck has the ability to turn your world completely
upside down. Let’s say you continue to
ignore the crack and keep going through life with it. Ignoring your brokenness is like trying to drink water through a cracked glass. You can fill the glass with water, but it will never stay full because the water will always seep through that crack. Likewise, you lose a little bit of your joy and peace the longer you leave your broken places unattended. You never want to ignore
your brokenness.
Many will fix the crack when they get sick and tired of
being sick and tired. Sometimes it takes
a while to get sick and tired of being sick and tired though. You may go through many failed relationships,
addiction, or illness before you realize or accept that your brokenness is hindering your life. Often times, broken people connect with other
broken people. A broken person can’t
complement another broken person. Your
missing puzzle pieces can’t complete each other’s puzzles. Brokenness makes intimacy (Into Me See)
difficult because you can’t open up.
Your brokenness will never allow you to be vulnerable, and vulnerability
is essential for openness and intimacy.
For some, the pressures of life will press so hard on their
brokenness that they shatter. This can
manifest in mental illness, crimes of passion or self-inflicted pain. Something that didn’t get addressed in its
infancy grows into a full grown cancer that takes over a person’s very
being. The weight of it all becomes so
heavy that the person can no longer rationally function. It’s like shattering a glass. Long after you think you’ve swept up all the
pieces, low and behold, you’ll step on a piece of the shattered glass weeks
later. You certainly never want to
shatter. Identifying your break is
imperative.
What caused your break?
Putting yourself in a position to determine what caused your
break is sometimes more hurtful than the break itself. What was the rock that hit your
windshield? The answers for this are
varied. Maybe you were molested or raped. Maybe you suffered a great loss, such as the death
of a close relative. Perhaps you were
abused or witnessed abuse. Perhaps you
come from a single parent home where you had no relationship with your other
parent. Maybe you were bullied. Most breaks occur in childhood or young
adulthood. Thinking back to the windshield it's not the crack that broke the windshield. The rock that hit the windshield was the cause of crack. Weather and time may have made the crack worse, but they aren't the causes of the crack. What was the rock that broke you? If admitting you’re broken is
the way to be mended, figuring out how you were broken is one of the ways
to stay mended. You have to get to the root cause of your brokenness. Don’t ever be ashamed of what
has you broken. Your shame is what will
keep you broken.
Moving on
Once you identify what has broken you, you have to make
peace with whom or what has broken you.
You want to avoid blame here.
Blame can allow an unforgiving spirit to fester. You have to forgive others, and you have to
forgive yourself. Without the
forgiveness, you will stay broken. Write
down who or what broke you. Write down
how your brokenness has affected various aspects of your life. You want to clearly identify the handicaps
and dysfunctions that your brokenness has brought you. Write down the game plan for moving beyond
your brokenness. Forgive whoever broke you. Forgive yourself. Declare that you are no
longer a victim to your brokenness.
Declare victory over your broken pieces.
Nothing about this is easy, but living a broken life isn’t easy
either. Your inability to address your
brokenness could be the very thing that’s hindering you from moving beyond
where you are to where you're supposed to be.
Prayer
Lord I pray that anyone that is reading this that is broken is
able to admit unashamedly what has them broken. It's not necessary for them to tell anyone but themselves and you. Let them have a heart and a mind to forgive others as well as themselves. Don't just let them share this thinking this will certainly help so and so. Allow them to clearly see their own broken places. I pray that whatever has them bound is loosed. I ask that you make them victors and not
victims to their brokenness. I pray for
healing and deliverance. May they know
they’re never too damaged for you to fix.
Give them a sense of peace that surpasses their understanding. Lead them into their destiny as they surrender their broken pieces to you. In Jesus’ name…amen.
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