Broken

What do you do when things are broken? It depends. I broke my glasses while hiking on the Appalachian Trail this summer. The only thing I could do on the trail was tape them back up, which looked really lovely. When I got off the trail, I stopped by Walmart and bought some JB Weld. That did the trick until I could get home and order a new pair.

Broken people are a different matter. JB Weld doesn’t work on people twisted by the struggles and heartaches of life. Sometimes, we’re broken because of our own sins, and other times, we’re twisted into unrecognizable shapes because someone around us expressed their brokenness. We are impacted simply as collateral damage.

Four lives were taken from this earth last week in Georgia because of a broken young man who came from a broken home.

The Bible is clear that things are not the way they are supposed to be. It’s easy for us to view a fourteen-year-old boy as broken who walks into a school and shoots his classmates and teachers. But what about the rest of us? We are broken, too. We may not shoot someone, but we still hurt them with words and actions.

We need something more substantial than JB Weld. Or I should say Someone! His name is Jesus. Only Jesus can heal broken people. His grace and mercy indeed make all things new. This idea was the basis of the devotional I wrote last year, New Every Morning. I had the privilege of spending months reflecting on the mercy of God and did my best to put some thoughts down in a devotional that might lead others to reflect upon this wonderful attribute of our Heavenly Father.

What difference does God’s mercy make in your life? How does a merciful God work to put us back together in such a way that our lives really are lovely because we reflect His beauty?I don’t know exactly how God does it, but I know He does. He is Jehovah Rapha – God, our Healer. He heals broken lives and restores broken people. It’s a process, a journey. He took the first step toward us at the cross. We have to take the next step of surrender toward Him. The rest is downhill from there.