Day 3: The Reach of the Lord in Our Brokenness

When Christians experience a season of suffering or affliction, one of the devastating parts of that experience is the isolation felt. When we are living in physical, emotional and spiritual brokenness, we feel “less than.” We may feel as if others are rejecting or neglecting us, or that we are unworthy of love.

But at the lowest point of our brokenness, the Lord meets us in some very specific ways. He is not distant, no matter how we feel. He is near.

• Our physical, emotional and spiritual brokenness is not repulsive to the Lord. In fact, Jesus himself gave us a perfect picture of how near God is when we are broken. In Mark 1:40–45, we see how near Jesus drew to an outcast society. Jesus touched a leprous man, something no one else was willing to do. He could have verbally healed the man, as he did in other situations. But Jesus chose to touch this man in order to heal his physical brokenness. Whether our brokenness is physical, emotional or spiritual, the Lord is near to it and to us.
• The Lord’s nearness is often accomplished through the faithful care and demonstrable love of Christians serving the brokenhearted. In the IDOP short feature film, we see an excellent example through two front-line workers who minister through presence, prayer and encouragement to those traumatized by the effects of their persecution.

The Lord is present in our brokenness in three ways.

1. In time: He is never late. Even when it doesn’t seem so to our human understanding, the Lord is on time, in the moment of our need.
2. In tenderness: The Lord is not simply aware of our brokenness, as one might be aware of a tragedy by reading a news story, but is intimately present as a loving father for a hurting child.
3. In territory: He is right where we are, meeting us in the place of our pain. Our mess, no matter how messy, does not intimidate the Lord. He is willing and able to meet us at the point of our need.

How has the Lord met you in your own seasons of brokenness? How can you be an encouragement to fellow Christians who may be feeling isolated in their current circumstances?