We all like to think of ourselves as whole and complete people. We like to think of ourselves as good, as doing ‘right’ things. But are we doing those things? Most of us fall far from it. No matter how much we’d like to be good and whole, we live in a world that often tempts us otherwise. And too often we follow it. A following that actually breaks us. But we don’t have to stay broken.
God is truly God of the Broken.
God’s grace is infinitely available. We only have to want it, to take advantage of it. We only have to trust in Him. We only have to turn around and see Him behind us, possibly in the face and actions of a caring human being that He’s called to help us. And even possible in something adverse that happens to us.
Our lives will change then; maybe in ways we never imagined, or maybe in the way we’ve prayed for. Whatever–we will be transformed.
Can you think of a time in your life when you were so down, so miserable, that you couldn’t put one foot in front of the other? Grace is very present in these circumstances. Often, the time we encounter God’s grace is when our life hangs in the balance. Especially in our sins, God encounters us, offering us grace and mercy and redemption.
It is a ‘waiting’ grace, waiting for us to take it. Maybe we have to admit our weaknesses. Maybe we have to give up what is dragging us down. Maybe we need to dig deeper for courage, or patience with others, or let go of our anger, or forgive another. Or unfortunately, maybe we just ignore its presence.
But we should never imagine that God is not present. Instead, we should imagine ourselves reaching out to Him, to realize that being broken at a given moment does not mean being broken forever.
And it is, after all, up to us.
Because we are all broken people yearning to be whole, and that wholeness is within our reach.
My novels and short stories revolve around this, too. Some of the characters don’t realize it at first. They refuse to see themselves as they really are. Others are shattered, or left behind, by someone they’ve loved. But then, as in life, something changes for them, or more specifically in them. Some of my characters, but not all of them, recognize an offer of healing. The recognition comes when GRACE is offered.
I can’t say enough good about the work of Dan Stevers. I’ve used Dan’s videos in several of my presentations because we are on the same page—especially in the following video, God of the Broken.
Translating a World on the Edge 