Let’s talk about moving from beyond broken to beautifully broken. How many of you have struggled with feeling unworthy, inadequate, and overlooked? How many have ever felt ashamed and condemned? My hand is up to all the above. We’re all broken. None of us are perfect. God accepts us for who we are, just as we are regardless of what we’ve done. I’m so thankful to have a loving Father who loves me unconditionally and I hope that you’ve found that too.
Once we realize that we are fully loved just as we are, we can learn to love ourselves and move beyond broken to beautifully broken. We must first surrender our broken pieces to Him and come as we are. God then picks up the pieces of our lives and yes it might be a little messy but God sees it as beautiful and can use those pieces to create a masterpiece.
Romans 8:28 shows us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark it may seem. God’s plan is good and will bring us hope and a future even through the most difficult things we encounter in life. He can use the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of our pain and past to give us a beautiful future. We can live beyond broken and we don’t have to stay stuck there. In fact, acknowledging the brokenness and the ugliness for what it is sometimes brings about unexpected healing and peace that surpasses all understanding.
Mental game is key and Micah 7:7 paints a clear path for us to take when present troubles arise. We can learn to do 3 things:
- Look to the Lord for help first expecting He’s going to move
- Wait for the Lord for direction and healing
- Remain confident knowing that He will answer
“But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.”
Have you ever felt so confident in the Lord that’s He’s got your back and the situation you’re praying about under control that you quit worrying about it? “Let go and let God” as some say. If I’m being real, that’s nearly impossible for me to do. God has always come through for me but it’s not always the answer I want, it’s not in the timing I want, and it’s not through the method I would like either. I’m just full of complaints huh? I’m not meaning to but I’m just trying to be real with you.
Currently, I’m going through a struggle with my daughter’s health that is very frustrating to say the least. Could it be worse? Absolutely but I still hate to see her miserable and want to take it away for her. We’ve been praying since she was born for her to get better, yet she doesn’t and that’s a tough pill to swallow. So what if God doesn’t answer or His answer is, I’m not going to take it away? I don’t know.
What I do know is that we still trust God, we still believe He is a God of miracles. We may not understand why she isn’t getting better. Certainly, we believe God does want her to get better and it’s not His fault for her little health issues but He can still bring good out of this broken situation. We are still confident in the Lord and believe Romans 8:28 over her life.
One thing that really struck me reading this verse this morning in Micah 7:7 was the “watch expectantly” part. To be expectant is to be thinking that something pleasant or exciting is going to happen. It just so happens that it also means to be pregnant as you may have heard before.
How many of you know that when you’re pregnant, you’re expecting that at the end of that LONG, uncomfortable pregnancy to have a baby here healthy and safe? So not only do we wait, but we wait with excited/ possibly freaked-out anticipation of baby’s arrival. Then we have to work hard usually to get them here with the help of others. But when you hold that baby in your arms who is healthy and beautiful, all the blood sweat, and tears to get them here all seem worth it when you hear the baby cry for the first time.
Keeping those two definitions in mind, I don’t think it was an accident that the term “watch expectantly for the Lord” was used here. We can apply it personally to our specific situations. Yes, it will be difficult to bear the burden at times. We’ll have good days and bad days. Yes, it will take time and there’s usually a wait. But we can look to the Lord and expect good things from Him, knowing that He will bring about good.
If we look for and watch expectantly for the Lord, I believe it will help us operate beyond our natural ability. Naturally, we worry. Sometimes that worry makes us a little frantic and impatient taking matters into our own hands which usually leads to further pain. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can move past that to confidence and hope in the Lord. In order for the Holy Spirit to do that for us, we have to allow Him and actively stand on God’s promises in His word and speak life over our situation. That my friends is how we can move beyond broken into a beautifully broken season of life.
I wish I could take your pain away. I wish I could take my daughter’s pain away but I can’t. But God is a God who sees us and cares. He isn’t ignoring us or laughing at our problems. He is actively working and moving behind the scenes in the supernatural to bring about good. No, I’m not crazy, I just believe and stand on God’s Word even when I don’t understand it all.
“I don’t know how You’ll make a way, but I know You will” are the lyrics in a popular worship song for a reason. We can be confident in the Lord with expectation that He’s got this and we can worship Him through the pain. I can’t tell you what peace, relief, and strength I’ve felt when I’ve truly surrendered my pain and struggles to the Lord. I’ve done this by still worshipping and speaking out how I trust the Lord and know He’s going to bring about good when I’m in the middle of a hopeless, mucky mess.
Sometimes we have to say the things before we even truly believe it ourselves and that’s okay. As we continue speaking life into our situation and praising the Lord for what He’s going to do, our minds will eventually follow. I know I’ve got to keep reminding myself to do this because I’m far from perfect.
We also have to have the mentality that Job and Jesus had. The “even if not” aka Job’s “though He slay me” attitude aka Jesus in the garden sweating drops of blood He was so stressed saying “not My will but Yours be done” kind of mentality. If you don’t know what I’m talking about you can click on the hyperlinks for context.
The point is, we get to this place of saying to God this: even if you don’t heal me or take this burden away, I will still love and trust You. That takes off a heavy load from our shoulders immediately even if it seems counterintuitive. We weren’t meant to live life alone or shoulder our own burdens alone. God is not only with us but He sends others to help us along the way as well.
I hope I’ve unpacked this well enough for you to get some encouragement and to live beyond broken in a beautifully broken, fully accepted, and treasured kind of way. I hope you know that God’s got your back and you aren’t alone. You’re never alone. In fact, all you have to do is speak Jesus and He’ll be right there with you. Take heart and be of good courage. I pray your burdens and load will melt away but even if not, know that God will truly bring about good in your situation. The enemy might have planned destruction for you and your family but God can still bring good from it. I believe that and hope you do too!
“37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Stay hopeful!
A Prayer For You
Lord Jesus, I need You. I need You every hour of every day. Forgive my unbelief that You’ve got this. I trust You Lord and praise You through this storm. You will bring about good and even if not, I still will love and trust You all of my days. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.