Broken Made Whole

Some days, it seems like all we can do is question: How do we recover from this? Will there ever be restoration and healing? Is there any control anywhere? Our feelings get in the way, and we can sink into a pit of despair and discouragement.

There's so much in this broken world that shatters us and leaves us bleeding, staring at the gaping wound and wondering if we'll ever recover. At the base of all of it is sin. Whether it's just part of the overall, fallen condition of the world ... or if it's a sin that we've committed, or that's been committed against us -- we feel them all. They all seek to break and destroy us.

These are things that I hate.

Infidelity. It breaks marriages and lives. It is a ripping apart of two hearts that God has put together. It destroys families, damages witnesses and testimonies. It is a walking death.

Infertility. It breaks God's perfect plan of being fruitful and multiplying. It causes grief to a woman's aching heart, and brings a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness to the heart of the man who wants to provide for his wife. It is an emptiness.

Infirmity. Bodies that no longer work as they used to. Diseases that run rampant through these weary bodies. A broken imperfection that keeps us from living as we're told we should. It wears us down, tires us out, causes us to feel incapable and futile. It is a destruction.

Addiction. Rebellion. Defiance. Hatred. Wars. The list can go on and on.

All of these words are a result of sin. Some due to a sinful and selfish choice. Others due to a fallen and imperfect world. But at the root of all are sin. Sin causes us to feel inadequate, empty, worthless, incomplete, and alone. We grieve and we mourn because we are suffering a loss that we were never meant to experience. In our innermost beings, we know we were meant for more than this.

God knows. He sees. He sees our shattered hearts, feels our deepest pain, hears our agonized cries, knows our innermost being. The world seems to continue on around us, but we're frozen in place, swallowed up in our grief. Grief is a natural part of dealing with loss, and we must grieve.

However, we cannot ever lose sight of the fact that ... God is.

God is ...
     ... ever present.
     ... sovereign.
     ... good.
     ... faithful.
     ... perfect.
     ... all-knowing.
     ... whole.

God is ... all that we are not, especially when we're dealing with a by-product of the brokenness of sin.

God is ... tenderly asking us to trust in Him even we're hurting and scared.

God is ... continuing to write our story.

And His love for us is immeasurable. That was proven by the cross. All of the ugliness and destruction of sin, Jesus took upon Himself. For you. For me. For our healing and restoration.

Listen. If you only get one thing out of reading this post I want this to be it.

The cross is the point in history that we can point to where it was all finished. It was done. This sin that ravages our world, that gashes our soul, that we battle with daily -- it was defeated by Jesus on the cross. The battle still rages, but the victory is already won.

There will be a day when we will see this sin done away with. No more infidelity. No more infertility. No more infirmity. All that is broken will become whole. All that is empty will be made full. Ashes to beauty. Mourning to dancing. All through Scripture, God talks about the Day of the Lord -- the time that He'll heal it all.

It is coming. It is certain. And we wait in anticipation for all to be made right.