Author: Warren Wiersbe


Source: Prayer, Praise and Promises


Scripture Reference Psalm 51:16-17 

Broken Things

Read Psalm 51:16,17

Have you ever studied the broken things in the Bible? A woman broke a vessel at the feet of Jesus and anointed Him. Jesus took bread and broke it as a picture of His body given for us. God uses broken things, and He starts with broken hearts. This is what repentance is all about. God doesn’t listen to the lips. He doesn’t measure a material sacrifice. He looks at the heart and says, "If your heart is broken, then I can cleanse it."

When David sinned, he could have brought all kinds of sacrifices. But they would not have pleased the Lord. God was waiting for the sacrifice of a broken heart. That’s why David said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart–these, O God, You will not despise" (v. 17). David’s sins should have brought him condemnation and death. He committed adultery, and he murdered a man. No sacrifice could be found in God’s sacrificial system for this kind of flagrant, rebellious, deliberate sin. But David did not die. Even though no sacrifice was available for his sin at the time, God looked down the corridors of time and saw a cross where Jesus Christ would die for David’s sin.

God looks at the heart, not the hand. He wants sincerity from the heart, not religious routine.

A broken heart is not remorse, nor is it regret. It is repentance, a turning away from sin. It’s telling God you hate sin, are judging it and claiming his forgiveness. Bring to Him the sacrifice of a contrite heart.

Pastor Ann preached on making peace with our past.

Among the points she mentioned, I recall these:

1) Accept the reality.

2) Feel the loss.

3) Live with it.

4) Choose to forget when you forgive.

5) Change the pattern of responding to the pain.

5) Move on with the grace of God.

6) Pain defines us. We either trivialise or magnify pain.

My reflections:

Why does pain lock people in a vicious cycle that sends them on an emotional upheaval, with their feelings held ransom? They can do everything logical to try break this vicious cycle, but it is not always successful. Anything constructive they do does not seem to alleviate their pain but it (the pain) will only grow louder when the activity ends. Perhaps the pain has not grown any softer. It just gets drowned out. Like what Pastor Ann said, the pain gets covered over, not dealt with in depth. I think the pain weighs on us until we wish for our hearts to stop beating. Ps Ann said, any broken vessel in God’s hands is a powerful vessel. When God heals us, we will be shinier, and out of our mouths will flow words of wisdom. When she was in consultancy, she would encourage her clients to help themselves with concrete steps, but those steps could only bring them thus far. But we have Jesus. Don’t live like people without hope. Trust in God’s heart.

Continue later. Bell’s gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pain numbs us. Words become cold comfort. Yet we still must persevere, and continue to hear these words. These words are a soothing balm to the pain. We need them–words of comfort and of hope. The pain is not forever although it feels this way. Things WILL look better. Borrowing Angela’s words, the healing process is very painful (I remember my physical wound which incapacitated me, handicapped and inconvenienced me greatly). Nonetheless, one is healing alright.

I want to say this. It takes a lot of willpower to stay in this healing process (one can always bail and distract ourselves with work, relationships, drugs, cigarettes, sports, alcohol, etc.).

Understanding one’s threshold of pain, one’s response to pain, acceptance of pain, and the knowing that it will go away help us keep afloat I find when we have full knowledge of all these. One also needs to know that one can only do so much in our own limited power. We need to keep turning to God for strength and comfort, the supernatural kind. Keep alert mentally, perservere in the good deeds, and our hearts will soon catch up. Paraphrasing Tozer, the one who has gone through great depths of pain understands God’s healing power.  

There will come a turning point which will release us from this pain. I was just thinking, perhaps before we reach this point, we need to keep turning. Like the starfish that is flipped over, we need to keep on turning. Ardously but surely, we will get there. To borrow but a cliché, one can be down but not out. 

Just a thought, are we doing anything to keep ourselves locked in the vicious cycle? Are we clinging onto false hopes? Do we latch onto this hope so tightly that in the end we exhaust ourselves with this grip, which handles us instead of us handling it. Only time can understand the mystery of God’s plan.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim

Why do the birds not waver in their faith and patience as they abide the appointed time for the hatching of the eggs? They seem to know that the time will come when the eggs will hatch. They do not peck at the eggs to check if the birdlings are indeed developing. They just continue to wait, the only thing she is needed to do until the time comes.

We fail to remember that God can meet our needs. If we do, it will change the perspective to our predicaments, whatever they may be.

We don’t have to fathom everything.

Be still and know that I am God.

~~God (Ps 46:10)