Broken to Be Made Soft

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[Tweet “I deal with a lot of broken stuff over here. If you have kids avoiding breakage is a way of life, but God has a purpose for brokenness”]

I have dishes I never use.

Yes, I have heard people talk about using the good china with the people you love and not waiting for a special occasion. But those people are not living with my kids, those people are living with civilized humans. I am guessing that good china users probably have a dish washer with a gentle cycle. I am not there; I purchase glassware in bulk at Sam’s Club. I no longer care what style is available, because they aren’t gonna last that long. At the store we purchase jelly based on the shape of the jar. My favorite is on sale right now for $2. They are lasting longer than any glass we’ve ever bought.

We all are avoiding breakage.

Broken stuff costs us time, money, and frustration. In life we are little different. We avoid “breaking down” with every fiber of our being. We smile and hide our pain for as long as we can bear. We hide our hearts from each other. We act “civilized”, and it is killing us.

I was discussing brokenness, recently with a friend. Truly trying times that left us feeling shattered. There was no comfort verse that eased the chaotic moments when it felt like life was falling apart. Instead of reaching out, we cried alone in our closets and in steaming hot showers, because we did not want to burden anyone with our brokenness.

We know we all have trials and difficulties, but knowing others hurt doesn’t help us to share our burdens in trying times. So, what will it take for us to share our burdens with one another; to connect in a way that helps us truly know that we are not alone in our struggles? When will we truly see that we are never alone. In sharing with my lovely hearted friend, I was reminded of that truth. In being heard, in communing with each other’s hearts, my burdens were lightened.

It was the communion of her fellowship that reminded me of the period of time at our church when we, as members of the body, made homemade lavash bread every week for communion. This element of communion is specially prepared. Even as it is made, it is a representation of Christ. It is mixed of flour and water, earth and water, the mundane and the divine. A touch of salt, the bitterness of tears, and the reminder to be salt and light. It is crushed, stretched thin, rolled out, then pierced with a fork and sliced with a knife. These are reminders of the marks that Christ took upon His own body on my behalf, just as the whip sliced His flesh and the spear pierced His side, the bread carries the scars thorough the fire. As we prepared the bread, it reminded us of the ultimate sacrifice that was made for us.

Driving home, I thought of what my friend had shared about brokenness

I had in my minds eye, taking the bread and putting it in my mouth in communion. The bread is stiff and unyielding as it is broken, but as you placed it on your tongue and pressed the hardened shard against the roof your mouth; in the crushing and breaking, it became soft. When it was made soft it could be consumed. Only when it was broken, could it became a part of us.

How often I avoid brokenness, softness, yielding. Treating my heart like old wedding pattered china instead of the Holy Bread. It is in brokenness; though crushing, it allows us to be softened. Brokenness is what makes us tender in areas where we were once hard and unyielding. Our broken life can lead to softness for people God wants to reach. Over time I have seen that being broken is not something to avoid or manage. It is not a weakness, because in our brokenness Christ is made strong.

 

Thing we gain in our brokenness

• In our weakness, we yield the power of self, and realize our intense need for God’s love to become a part of our life. He alone can give us hope for the future; hope to sustain us in brokenness.

 

• In being broken we have the opportunity to ask for help from our community.

 

• We are asked to live, momentarily, apart from our own strength. Weakness actually gives us the ability to be strengthened in ways we may not have known that we needed.

 

• Brokenness is an opportunity to take part in the transformation from stiff-necked pride to humility.

 

• Brokenness is communion with Christ, and an invitation to enter communion with your friends as you reach out and share your burdens with them. You’ll  be surprised to find out how much you have to offer one another.

 

I hope you have endured the breaking in this life with more grace than I have at times. It is unavoidable. Pain, sorrow and sadness are a part of life, but the sweetness of joy and the greatness of hope are ours in Christ.