Fixing the Broken
This week’s blog is a little different because it is not from me. As I was researching this topic about fixing what is broken, I came across the following devotional on the Bible App. I thought it was so good that I would share it with you here. Again, you can find it on the Bible App. The author is unknown but it came from theologyofwork.com.
Something’s gone wrong. Your work colleagues have competing agendas and you can’t get the project out the door. Or you’re yelling at your kids and you don’t know how to stop. Once upon a time, God created all things good. But in this situation, God’s perfect created order seems very far away.
What do you do?
First, you realize that you’re not alone. Brokenness affects every human relationship and pursuit. Romans 8:22 says that all of creation “groans” today as it awaits God’s liberation. This groaning fills your daily work with setbacks and frustrations. Things don’t go right. You make mistakes and experience delays.
What’s more, your daily interactions with people are troubled by sin - theirs and your own. You have miscommunications. You hurt other people and they hurt you. This goes back to the first chapters of Genesis, and it continues in daily life today.
Thankfully, God provides a way out. Through prayerful reflection, you can learn to identify what is broken - what runs contrary to God’s design. You can use confession to give your brokenness over to God. Through Jesus’ forgiveness, you can get a blank slate to start afresh. And you can partner with God in his work to heal your broken situation.
It all starts by cultivating an awareness of the broken. When something goes wrong, rather than thinking of it as annoying and inevitable, think, “This is something that is different from God’s plan. I think God wants to heal this.”
TRY THIS: Think of a difficult situation in your life. Ask yourself these questions:
What is God’s original intention?
What is broken? What runs counter to God’s intent?
What does God want this to look like?
What specific actions can I take to help God heal this situation?
When you’re facing a broken situation in your life, identifying your part in the problem can go a long way towards getting God’s healing. It can feel uncomfortable to look at your own faults. Nobody likes to be told that they’re wrong. Admitting it is even worse! That’s where prayer comes in.
Prayers like Psalms 139 invite God to lovingly point out what’s broken in you. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139:23-24).
In prayer, you can look at yourself in partnership with God. Your goal is to see ways that you have contributed to brokenness in your life. Confessing these things brings you closer to God. It allows God to show you his plan for fixing things, or what Psalms 139 calls “the way everlasting.”
TRY THIS:
Ask God to search you for any sins you need to confess.
Remind yourself that God won’t leave you in the depths of despair. God will forgive you and partner with you to lead you to a solution.
Confess your sin to God.
Thank God for forgiving you through Jesus.
Ask God if there are any specific next steps you need to take to help heal the situation.
Christians throughout the ages have also found it helpful to confess to another person. A close friend or church leader can help by praying with you, reminding you that you’re forgiven, and pointing out concrete next steps. That gives you the courage and accountability to change what’s gone wrong, with God’s help.
God promises forgiveness to all those who confess their sins. Forgiveness means wiping the slate clean. It gives you a fresh start - an opportunity to start over.
It can be hard to admit your fault and accept God’s forgiveness. You may be embarrassed to realize that you’ve been stuck in an unhelpful pattern for a long time. Or you may be unwilling to let go of anger over whatever has gone wrong in your life.
There are many reasons why you might not want your slate wiped clean. Why confess your sins and accept God’s forgiveness? Because it gives you a way out of whatever problem you face.
Whether it’s a family feud, a job you can’t stand, or a mounting pile of financial debt, none of it is surprising to God. Jesus’ sacrifice covers all manner of brokenness. When you identify the brokenness as contrary to God’s design, confess your part, and accept forgiveness, you can start to see your day-to-day life as a series of blank slates for God to write on.
TRY THIS:
Ask God where you are stuck in your life. Let God bring a situation to your mind.
See if you can identify what is broken in that situation. What is different from God’s original design? What does God want to heal?
Ask God to show you anything that you have done wrong. Confess that to God. Ask God’s forgiveness.
Accept Jesus’ forgiveness. Thank God for giving you a blank slate.
Look at your situation with new eyes. What possibilities open up? Ask God if there’s anything you can do today to help God to fix the situation.
Learning to see what’s broken can feel like a discouraging task. But it needn’t be. Every broken situation is an opportunity to partner with God in hope.
Through his resurrection, Jesus offers what 1 Peter calls a “living hope.” God’s hope is alive - active, present, and adaptive to your particular situation. The darker and more intractable your problem, the more vibrant the hope you can find there.
The Biblical prophets lived in dark times, and yet they painted vivid pictures of what life would look like when restored to God’s design. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the hope that one day all work will be fruitful. One day, all people will enjoy the fruits of their labor. The people reading Isaiah’s words were oppressed and stymied in their work. But they took courage from Isaiah’s hope, and they used that courage to work towards fulfilling God’s plan.
Every instance of brokenness in your day-to-day life gives you an opportunity to partner with God. Your job is to identify the brokenness and ask God to show you what the hope of resurrection looks like in your unique situation.
Try this exercise in cultivating your holy imagination:
Think of the most difficult situation in your life today. Identify what is broken. What has gone contrary to God’s design?
Ask God to show you His hope for this situation.
Imagine what this relationship/project/piece of creation would look like if completely restored to God’s design. Flush out all details in your mind. If this situation were completely healed, how would people interact with one another? What would the environment look like? How would you feel?
Thank God for the living hope in Jesus’ resurrection.
God is in the restoration business. God’s work today is a process of making all things new. When you encounter a broken situation in your life, you have an opportunity to partner with God in His work of restoration.
Every area of your life - from the smallest interactions in your relationships to the biggest problems in your work - can be a restoration project. You can help God in His work by identifying what is broken, looking for how God wants to fix it, and taking simple next steps to help.
The book of Revelation describes what a completely restored life would look like. In the new creation, God will dwell with you in your home and in your daily work. There will be no more tears. Every broken situation will be made new (Revelation 21:3-5).
You can pull that reality closer each day by taking the simple next steps that help God in His work. After identifying what is broken, confessing your part in the problem, seeking forgiveness, and imagining how God wants to make it better, ask God what action you can take.
It often helps to list one or two short action-oriented phrases. For example, “Call boss for advice” or Email babysitter.”
By making a regular practice of seeing the broken and working towards restoration, you can join God in His daily work.
REVIEW:
You can use these questions to address brokenness in your day-to-day:
What is broken here? (Notice anything contrary to God’s design)
What’s my part in the problem? (Confess and receive forgiveness)
How does God want to make this new? (Hope and imagination)
What are my next steps? (Simple action items to participate in restoration)
PRAYER:
God, thank you for your promise to make all things new. Help me see what is broken in my life. May I take practical steps to partner with you. Thank you for your love, your hope, your forgiveness, and your ongoing work of restoration.
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