Broken

Have you ever felt broken?

One of the many things I love about the Bible is its honesty and transparency. The Word of God tells life like it is. The good, the bad and the ugly shows up repeatedly on the pages of holy scripture. I don’t know about you, but I can identify with real people with real problems who found real solutions to life’s challenges through faith in God.

The Bible is a credible record of broken people who were made whole.

Take King David for an example. During a time when David was viciously, relentlessly and mercilessly assailed and attacked by enemies, he declared “I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind. I am like a broken vessel.” Psalm 31:12. Read the context of Psalm 31 and the Psalms 4-30 and you will see why Kind David felt forgotten and broken.

I get where he was coming from.

There was a time in my life that I could agree with David “I am a broken vessel.” Five years of intense pressure, unrelenting stress due to opposition from adversaries crushed me spiritually, emotionally and physically resulting in severe reactive depression and suicidal thoughts. My heart was broken. My spirit was crushed. My confidence was shattered. My life was a mess.

I spent thirty days in the hospital seeking help to assist me to find my way back to wellness and wholeness. Then a two years process of healing, restoration and renewal from the Lord that saved my life. I thank God every day that this once “broken vessel” is no longer broken!

David declares in Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.” Though forgotten by men, the Lord had not forgotten David. He was near, not far from David as he battled brokenness.

Psalm 34:18 saved my life one night in the hospital. Broken, and feeling forgotten and that God was a zillion miles away, the Holy Spirit gave me Psalm 34:18, assuring me the Lord was close and would make me whole again. That night in a dark room, the saving, delivering, rescuing light of the Lord shined through the darkness of my spirit, instilling hope in the healing power of Jesus Christ!

My friends, God is always near to those who love him no matter how tough life is. Health, wellness, and wholeness is always His good, acceptable and perfect will for us.

Tips For Turning Brokenness Into Wholeness

Admit you are broken. Go ahead say it “I am broken”. Denying your brokenness will not set you on the path to wholeness. It is okay to say I am a broken vessel.

Submit your brokenness to the Lord. Release your hurt to Him. Let go of the pain that is pushing you around and holding you down. Humbly, sincerely submit yourself to God’s healing process. He knows all about your brokenness and what to do to make you whole.

Commit yourself to the healing, wholeness process. Face your heartache head on. Decide to take the healing steps the Lord directs you to take. Push through your pain. Seek the help you need from caring people God has put in your life.

Refit means do what God tells you to do in your healing process. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Whatever He tells you to do, do it! Change your thinking. Establish healthy habits of body, spirit and soul. Alter your mindset and lifestyle from “I am a broken vessel” to “I am a whole vessel in Christ”.

Transmit to other “broken vessels” how God has made you whole. Never hoard your healing. Share what the Lord has done for you with others who need what you have. Share the how to’s of the journey from brokenness to wholeness. Encourage others who are broken that they can be made whole just like you have been!

Rejoice that you are no longer a broken vessel. Give God thanks every single day for turning your brokenness into wholeness! Praise the Lord that you are healed, healthy, whole, restored and renewed in Christ! Give God glory for doing for you what you couldn’t do for yourself.

Broken spirits and hearts can be made whole through the healing power of Jesus Christ.

Jesus specializes in taking broken hearts and making them whole again. Read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark. Luke and John) where you will find the true stories of many common people who experiences wholeness through their brokenness when they looked to Jesus.

“The Spirit of the lord is upon Me because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to prisoners.” Isaiah 6:1, Luke 4:18

Jesus, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Savio binds up broken hearts. Binding them up means they don’t hurt again. Jesus took our pain of brokenness when His body (“vessel”) was broken on the Cross. His brokenness makes it possible for our broken vessels to be healed and made whole!

Good news! Broken vessels, like you, me and so many others, can be made whole!

Feeing like a broken vessel”? Surrender the pieces of your brokenness to the Lord. Trust him to heal your heart because of his great love for you.

Today, choose wholeness over brokenness.

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

A Word For Your Week: Turn your brokenness into wholeness through faith in Christ.