How broken can a heart be before it’s beyond repair? Is there a point where there are so many shards, there is no possible remedy? Sometimes it might feel like that, but there is hope. You might recall a few writings about Job. You can read the entire chapter of Job 11 where Job’s friends are talking to him, but these verses stand out for me. Job 11:17-18 “Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.” There is hope – even for someone who was as broken as Job.
We’re in construction here at our house. Our second bathroom needed a makeover, but it has since turned into a major demolition and rebuilding project. I came home from work one day to see the remains of a wall, broken and crushed, in the middle of what used to be the bathroom. “Ugh!” I sighed. This was not a simple project for a weekend warrior. This was going to be a multi-step, multi-month, multi-disordered, inconvenient burden. As I looked at that broken pile of rubble though I considered how closely that could resemble our hearts. There were large sheets of wallboard broken in pieces, chunks of ceiling, tack strips with sharp nails, and coils of electric wire. None of it made sense anymore. There would be no way to take those same parts and remake a whole. There was no turning back now. The damage was done. So what then? Can’t go back. Forward momentum is the only survival mechanism at this point.
Fortunately, I have a husband who knows what needs to be done to recreate that space into something better than it once was. Tim and I have made several trips to the home improvement emporium to choose fresh new pieces that will connect and fit into that old broken down space making it a masterpiece of his hands. Tim is the planner and constructor while I tag along as the helper to carry part of the burden. Taken out of context perhaps but that’s Biblical. Galatians 6:2 says “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
This construction project is not unlike the brokenness we feel so often when the storms of life move swiftly and pummel our hearts into a million pieces. We wonder what we can do to turn things around. If we were a building, we would look at the foundation to assure it was solid and worth re-building. Look at these words in 1Timothy 6:19-20 “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” One thing this tells me is that it’s up to me to do some good deeds and be generous to others.
That might not solve the issues that caused my heart to be shattered, but it’s a step to rebuilding and creating something better than it was before. Looking at the mess and dwelling on it, does nothing to assure improvement. Just like this construction project going on over here, the remnants of what was, had to be carried out to the trash and hauled away. Every pain of the past has to be torn down and hauled away. Everyone’s situations are different and what causes devastation for one person might be a benign consequence for someone else. What we are experiencing is very real to us though and the only one who understands is God himself.
Today is a good day to crawl up into the omnipotent lap of God and tell him how broken you are and how much you need his power to start your own reconstruction project. We all know what that means. Envisioning – knowing what you want, planning how to get there, making choices through ceaseless prayer, and being thankful for little things while you wait for the big things. And work at it with all your heart. Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Psalm 130:5 “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”