The Only Thing That Gets Better When Broken~

~is a Christian.

The other day, 

 in a pile of random things I can't tolerate to toss,

I found this treasure.

(click to enlarge, you'll want to read this,

maybe more than once)

Psalm 51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart,

O God, you will not despise.

Forgot the broken heart of a romance movie,

brokenness for a believer is much different.

In fact, it's almost the opposite.

Our hearts are romantically broken

 when someone we love forsakes us.

Our hearts are spiritually broken

 when the God who loves us draws near,

but His holy presence causes conviction.

Our heart is broken when we see our sin

in light of His goodness, and repent.

Back in the day before

computers,

email,

Internet,

Facebook,

blogging,

cell phones,

texting, Tweeting

and all the other modern ways of passing on a message,

an older friend of ours, John,

 typed up encouraging excerpts from Christian books, poems,

devotionals and Bible study notes to pass around.

The above well-loved pieces of paper

was one of his offerings of encouragement.

 

About ten years ago, he gave us his cherished typewriter.

 The original receipt is still tucked away in the instruction manual.

Since minimum wage was only $.75 in 1952,

his source of spiritual encouragement wasn't cheap.

It was more like an eternal investment.

 

My kids loved using it to type up ransom notes,

after kidnapping each other's stuffed animals,

but it always represented spiritual encouragement to me.

Someday, our Internet trail will leave behind memories,

pictures, thoughts, journals, Tweets, status updates and blogs.

Hopefully, our trail will be littered with

 broken pieces of self and

marked with this message of hope for those walking behind~

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

Because, ya' know,

a Christian is the only thing that gets better when

broken. 



My Heavy Heart

The past few weeks I had a heavy heart.

So many trials have compounded
I actually cried out to the Lord,

 "Please let something good happen to me.

I just need joy!"

I was that low.

 I know my joy is supposed to be in the character of Christ

 and not in my circumstances.

I know true joy doesn't come just when things are going my way.

I know, but I wasn't walking in that knowledge.

However, Lord looks down with love on His children
who are stooped down in sorrow and trials.

Even when they

push away His touch,

 doubt His Word,

 and don't agree with His plan,

He keeps reaching, speaking, wooing.

Proverbs 12:25

Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop:

but a good word makes it glad.

What makes our heart heavy?

From carrying burdens we shouldn't be carrying.

We're supposed to fling them onto the back of Christ,

the same back that was marred by stripes and bore the cross for us.

Surely, whatever burdens our hearts

 can be added to that pile on His holy back.

Stoop actually means to depress;

 our physical body can betray the condition of our heart.

What's the "good word?"

Anything the Lord says in the Bible.

It's all good.

But, sometimes we just need someone to listen,

someone to throw their arms around us and promise us

everything is going to work out for good.
The Lord promises to provide that for us.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father,

who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,

comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

And just when I've needed it,
 Christians have provided that good word.

The Lord allowed two divine encounters with sisters
that have been seriously praying for the Innocent Man.
(A Christian man falsely accused of a crime, punishable up to 60 years in jail.)
They both reminded me they're praying.

Many people have dropped emails or messages on Facebook,
just when I need them.
Some of you have silently supported us with prayer,
and we feel the presence of your faith.

The Innocent Man has also been upheld by the Lord's people.

As I cried out to the Lord,
I felt Him lightening the load.
Every prayer on our behalf,
every word of encouragement,
every reminder of the Lord's faithfulness,
has helped lift that burden.

Thank you for being used of the Lord in our lives.
None of us could have walked this path alone.


We've lived through this nightmare on earth for eight months.
We've felt the Lord's presence,
we've seen answer to prayer,
the Gospel has gone forth,
the saints have been encouraged.


The trial is
Tuesday, October 11th,
and they think it will last three days.

Please pray.

Will you also please leave a word of encouragement for
the Innocent Man in my comments?
He's in the Garden of Gethsemene,
he knows what's ahead.

Thank you for helping carry the cross,
it relieves the burden.

Thank you for praying.

Broken Into Pieces

Taking a break during a hard day, I left my dungeon,

I mean my bedroom/office/library/storage room,

to make my favorite snack.

I cubed the last chunk of my favorite cheese, Marble Jack,

on my favorite plate, my newly found Anchor Hocking Avocado Soreno dinner plate.

It needed to be melted  into ooey, gooey, deliciousness.

I started the microwave and went to the cupboard to grab my

favorite crackers, Wheat Thins.

I was almost drooling.

But, instead of a snack, I had a surprise.

A loud surprise.

A "there-goes-my-snack" kinda' surprise.

My plate became a visual aid for fractions

and my snack became dry, cheeseless Wheat Thins.

Reading the Internet, I discovered that my plate most likely

had a non-visible stress fracture from prior stress.

It probably was set on the table too hard,

stacked into the cupboard a little too fiercely,

or was dropped.

("Wasn't me!" Can you hear all  my six children yellin' that?)

The person didn't even know they had damaged the plate.

After all, it didn't break.

The heat from being in the microwave less than one minute

was enough pressure to blow the plate into pieces.

That little ol' crack couldn't tolerate the change in temperature.

You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?

You relating to that plate?

We might suffer damage that didn't seem fatal

until the flames of testing are applied.

Sometimes we shatter in surprise.

When you're feeling shattered, you might want to evaluate

where you think the damage came from.

What's preventing you from withstanding the storms of life?

Then offer the pieces up to the Lord.

I threw out the plate pieces, they were useless to me,

but souls are always precious to the Lord,

and can always be repaired.

He either fixes or uses broken things.

Even broken hearts. 

MM Meditation - A Broken Heart

Proverbs 18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?

We've all heard glory stories of Christians who are suffering from physical maladies but magnify the Lord as their strength and their song. Examples in the Scriptures, such as saints who were persecuted, Paul’s thorn in the flesh, and the sufferings of Christ, show there are times when we are called to physical suffering for the glory of God.

A physically ill Christian can be loved back to good health through medical intervention, prayers, cards, phone calls, flowers and meals. But, there is one infirmity that does not respond to this healing intervention and drives the sufferer to their knees.

There is a suffering
that cannot be healed by a physician,
that cannot be helped by the passage of time,
that cannot be assuaged by the physical help from the saints
– the broken heart.

This suffering is pure spiritual warfare fought within the heart, alone and on your knees. You are prostrate before the Lord in surrender to circumstances until you can find peace. It is a battle of stormy seas raging within that needs the calm voice of the Savior to say, “Peace, be still!”

It is a time where heart is so heavy, laughter at trivial matters seems profane and blasphemous.
It is a time where tears are so commonplace, you can’t remember a time when you didn’t weep.
It is a time where your body responds in fatigue and aches because it seems as if you are physically enduring the weight of your burden.
It is a time where your ambitions, motives, accomplishments and failures are so before the throne of God that you feel naked in His presence, as the searing light of His omniscient love seeks out the hidden corners of your heart and mind.

Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

Who breaks our heart? People. Because we love people more than things and circumstances, the tragedy of a broken heart occurs when people we know and love affect us with their sin. A stranger can't cause the pain an intimate can.

Who can bear this broken spirit?
Only the One who bore the weight of our cross upon His back,
the One who’s hands and feet surrendered to the nails intended for us,
the One who’s body bore the stripes of our sin, and
the One who uttered those sanctifying words, “It is finished.”
He alone, can hold up the burden of a saint suffering from a broken heart, and
He alone can turn those tears into joy.

What helps heal a broken heart?

*Confess any sin you committed in the situation. Your REACTION to their ACTION may have been wrong. Even if you can't confess to that person, confess it to the Lord. Purge your heart and mind of guilt from unconfessed sin.

*Understand that they sinned against God, not you. It is not about YOU, it is about the Lord Jesus.

*Forgive like the Prodigal’s father, who waited on the doorstep with arms open in forgiveness and restoration.

*Understand that what others mean for evil, God means for good. Allow the peaceable fruit of righteousness to work together for good, because you love God and are called according to His purposes.

*Trust the Lord, who causes or allows all things to happen. He that calmed the seas, but also caused them to rage. He also allowed Judas to betray His Son, for the good of the rest of the world.

*Serve the Lord with gladness. Don't allow this to keep you from being in the Word, in prayer, witnessing and seeking to be a help to the saints and the sinners. Do not end up so busy you don’t heal, but let the Lord guide in your ministering.

*Enjoy the presence of the Lord.

Psalm 34:18
"The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit."