Broken. It’s an ugly word.
When we are children, if a toy or object is broken, it means that it didn’t work anymore, and we aren’t able to play with it. If we are too rowdy and something in the house gets broken because of negligence or misuse or foolishness, it might have meant that we are punished if we are responsible.
Have you ever broken something so badly that it ended up in shards at your feet?
The bottom line is that nobody wants something (or wants to BE something) that is BROKEN.
As adults, we often learn that broken THINGS are small potatoes compared to broken PEOPLE. Life’s trials, troubles and circumstances can often weigh us down and break us. Sometimes the things that break us, are quite honestly, consequences that we have brought upon ourselves. Or sometimes they are things that we never deserved or asked for. But rather things that were put upon us.
Regardless of HOW we are broken, the result of brokenness is often a burden all its own. The Word says that a broken spirit even dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22). In the post titled “It’s All Good” (you can read it here if you missed it) we talk about the concept of “TOV.” “TOV” is the Hebrew word that is translated in our Bible as “good,”
but the concept is much more than that. When something is “TOV” it is working in the way it was designed to function. It is doing what it was MADE to do.
But when we are BROKEN, we aren’t doing what we were intended and designed to do.
Have you ever been broken? I don’t mean disappointed, or out of sorts for a while. I mean BROKEN. COMPLETELY UNDONE by life and all that comes with it, and not sure how you will ever effectively FUNCTION again.
Here is the good news.
When we are broken – when we are undone and utterly low in the pit – it is THEN that we are in the very best position to RECEIVE from God. The Word says that grace is cut off from the prideful but that the humble, needy or lowly get MORE grace (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). He HEALS the 
broken-hearted and tends to their wounds (Psalm 147:3).
Years ago, a sweet neighbor and lifelong family friend, said something to me concerning raising children. It’s a moment that I will never forget. She said: “Who is your favorite child? It’s the one that needs you the most at the time.” That’s how God feels about us. When we need Him the most is when He is the closest. He is the one that leaves the 99 to find the ONE. He leaves the ones that are doing okay to find the ONE that needs him. Not long ago, I heard one of my favorite teachers say that God has parted the Red Sea, brought down fire from heaven, and made the sun stand still- just because His children had a need.
It’s nice when we can give things to those around us and those we love. But do you know when a gift is the MOST special? When it’s NEEDED. Go
buy a new car or a new house for a billionaire – you may not even get a thank you. But take a bowl of soup or a sandwich to somebody who is hungry and has no food and see how it is received!! And whether we want to believe it or not, that is our story. It’s human nature. It’s FLESH.
When things are going well, we tend to not be thankful for the blessings in our lives. But when we are completely broken, THAT is when we are in the position to receive from God. Not only does God love us even in that broken, messed up, dirty, smelly, crusty, unlovable condition, but He draws even nearer to us! He gives us MORE favor and grace, He tends to our wounds and heals us, and when we are ready, just like a shepherd would carry a lamb, He sets us back on our feet again.
Broken can be beautiful, yall. Sometimes that place of brokenness is just the place we need to be.
James 4:6 NIV: But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Proverbs 3:34 NASB: Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the needy.
Psalm 147:3 NIV: He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Isaiah 57:15: For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Psalm 31:12: I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.
Proverbs 18:14: The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit who can bear it?
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