By Chris WittsMonday 29 Aug 2022Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
Transcript:
It was the late Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen, who wrote that song ‘Anthem’. Released in 1992 to wide acclaim, and for many of Cohen’s fans, they believe that it was his best piece ever. And the words from this song resonate with many people. Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in their great words, and I want to think about them for a few minutes today. It’s quite amazing to see plants growing up in cement cracks trying to burst through. And it reminds me as imperfect people. We are cracked people with plenty of flaws and faults, which, if we can’t see them, others certainly can. But here’s the incredible thing. God does his best work through the lives of broken people like you and me.
Throughout the Bible, we see this again and again. Those who did God’s work were often those who made the biggest mistakes and had to learn the hard way. They were no saints. In that sense, there are wounded broken people everywhere. We may not see these wounds, but we can usually tell when people are sad or struggling or just not themselves. Some of us have been there. We’ve lost our health, relationships or jobs. We have failed somewhere, and our brokenness is very personal, so much so that we really don’t want to share the details with anyone. The brokenness is unique to each of us. It’s ours, nobody else’s.
Yet in a strange way, it connects us with each other as something that we have in common.
We all have our stories, battles and wounds in this world. Broken things are despised, they’re thrown out. Anything we no longer need. We throw them away. Damaged goods are often rejected, and that includes people in marriage. When relationships breakdown, the tendency is to walk away and find someone new.
God Chooses and Uses The Broken
The world is full of people with broken hearts, broken spirits and broken relationships. And maybe I’m talking about you today. But that’s no reason to close yourself off from others in case you get hurt again. And so you say to yourself, “How can I sustain my own self esteem? What will others think of me?” Here’s some good news from the Bible. Psalm 34:18, says “The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
That’s true, and God’s love can shine through the cracks through our broken lives. Life at its best is letting the light and the love of God shine through, especially at our broken places. Only God’s love shining through will bring proper healing and transformation. And when life is going well and there’s lots of sunshine, it can be hard to see God at work.
But in the dark times, God’s presence and strength is shared with us. He is stronger than our own difficulties, and if we trust him, we will grow in grace and confidence and others will notice and say, ‘hey, there’s something different about you’ or ‘how did you cope?’ But that does mean that you have to be open and vulnerable to others.
It’s rewarding but difficult work at building relationship with others, be transparent and intentional. Yes, we don’t want people to know everything about us, but there are some painful issues that we can share, especially if we know that God is helping us through a difficult time. I like the words of the singer Bebo Norman, who sang ‘Oh, Great Light of the World fill up my soul. I’m half a man here, so come and make me whole.’
Do you feel there are too many broken parts of your life to be of any use to God?
You’re not alone because Jesus wants us to bring him all our brokenness and ask him to fill us with his light, his rays that will shine through the cracks.
And that’s why the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian Christians, “Jesus is lord and master of all. For Jesus sake, we’re here to serve you, the God who spoke light into existence. Saying let light shine from the darkness is the very one who sets our heart ablaze to shed light on the knowledge of God’s glory, revealed in the face of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4:5-6.
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, how true it is that there are cracks and broken parts of all of us. And yet, in an amazing and miraculous way, you shine through those cracks, Lord, even though I’m imperfect Lord, I want to be that vessel that can turn out really something well to bless others, amen.