Broken . . .

Not sure what to do with this, but it's on my heart in a big way right now and has been inching its way in over the last few years.....


What is it?  What is it about this world?  

So broken, yet so beautiful. 

There is beauty in our brokenness.  Brokenness brings us to our face.  There is nothing more beautiful than someone on their face, someone open in the way only brokenness can bring. There is revival on the horizon. God is moving in such a mighty way right now!  Can you feel it?

Maybe you are where I was 3 years ago. . .  

Going through the motions, trying to keep my head above water.  So many things happening in my life.  My marriage on the brink of divorce with infidelity - a child on anti-depressants - myself depressed -my body being worn down little by little- and no one I could even talk to about it.  

But I just pushed on and pushed it down.  

What's wrong with that you say?  Isn't that a good thing?  Being able to push through when things are going wrong.  "Stay strong", they say.  That's what the world wants you to do. Sometimes that's even what fellow Christians want you to do.  

Stay strong and then we won't have to worry about you so much.  

Stay strong and we can feel ok about the fact that were too busy to come alongside you in your darkest hour.  

Stay strong so we can prove to others that that's what being a Christian is all about.  

We'll be ok, we're Christians - we can stay strong and pretend everything is fine - because weakness and brokenness show a lack of faith, right? 

NO.  Again I say No!  

God doesn't want us to be strongmen and women.  He didn't design us to do it on our own.  He designed us for dependence on Him.  He designed us to need other people to come beside us and let us know they are in this with us to the end. 

So why then do we wear these masks?
  
Why then do we cover the real us behind a facade, behind a fake smile - all the while we're screaming inside!

Satan has twisted this world so badly.  There is a heresy in thinking being strong is a sign of spiritual maturity.  Satan wants you to believe that.  Because if you do, you'll just keep hiding behind your smile - hiding behind the fig trees - and never feel safe enough to let go. 

Fear is so gripping.  We can be afraid of so many things.  
But guess what? 
Perfect Love will cast out fear. 

I'm not talking about any other Love than the Love our father has for us.  No human being, nor anything of this earth will fill us with the kind of Love that casts out fear.  If you aren't experiencing that Love - it's not because God isn't trying to show it to you.  

Could it be because you are so fearful of what might happen if you let your guard down... if you are real?  Is it because you have put up a wall that is so thick, you cannot even notice God knocking, calling out to you?  

Have you ever had a child who was so hurt by something and all you wanted to do was embrace them and let them cry in the safety of your arms?  But then when you hold out your arms to them - they push you away and run off to deal with things on their own.  It's a sad day for our creator when He's extending to you all you'll ever need in His embrace and we push away.  

It breaks his heart.  But He lets us.  He knows we have to get to the point of running to him with abandon -  with freedom -  or we will never know the true depth of His Love for us.   

There is freedom in falling on your face.  

There's freedom in knowing that it's ok to not have it all together. 

Be broken before your God. 

If you think you aren't broken, you haven't dug deep enough.  You've got to remove a few more masks.  Be broken before God.  

Be broken before people too. 

If you have no one to be broken with right now, ask God to bring someone into your life.  And on the opposite side, when we feel that tugging to be that "someone" for another person -answer the call.  Don't push it aside.  God is asking you to participate in something bigger than all of us. Revival.

Three years ago I was where you are - confused, hurt, broken - trying my hardest to keep it under wraps.  Then God brought people alongside me to show me it was ok to be broken and confused.  Not just ok, but beautiful.  And that God never intended for us to "have it all together" - so stop trying and just let it be.  For it's when we give up trying to do it on our own and fall into Gods embrace that the healing truly begins.