The Pathway from Brokenness to Healing

Healing is not quick or easy. It involves facing brokenness head on and pressing through the stiffness and soreness of body and spirit to find a new place of wholeness.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Where does brokenness come from?  There are three sources:

1. Your own stupidity
2. Good work you’ve done
3. The mistakes or evil of another

We all know what it’s like to do something stupid then reap the harvest of pain that follows.  Throw in a little guilt and regret and you have a meal that leaves major indigestion and damage.  You’re broken.

On the other hand, sometimes you do good work (take a stand for truth, fight against injustice, speak up against evil) and all you get in return is persecution and pain. You’re broken.

Sometimes you find yourself broken due to the mistakes or evil others.  You were living your life or riding your motorbike in your lane (in our case) when ‘BANG’ – everything changes and you find yourself being picked up off the road broken.

Regardless of how you got into the mess you’re in, healing is required.  And depending on the degree of the brokenness, an equal amount of healing is required to be well again.   

What qualities are needed to heal?

• Admitting you’re broken
• A readiness for healing
• Strength to push through the pain of healing
• A willingness to avoid “numbing” the pain of brokenness or recovery
• An openness to receive help from others
• A willingness to forgive anyone involved in “causing” your brokenness – including yourself if necessary
• Patience – you can’t rush it!
• Courage – healing is not for the faint of heart
• A willingness to let God join in your healing journey

Healing is not clean and simple but messy and emotional yet beneficial!  Here are some of the benefits you may  experience during your healing journey (they’ve been mine):

• Inner peace
• Tears of release
• Renewed friendships
• Rest in my body and soul
• A renewed sense of purpose  
• Joy not connected to circumstances

 A final thought from Larry Crabb’s book Shattered Dreams. 

Wisdom understands that souls are not broken machines that experts fix…When broken with shattered dreams: 1) Explore psychological dynamics – and interpret what’s going on; 2) Believe that God is always working to make His children aware of a dream that remains alive beneath the rubble of every shattered dream, a new dream that when realized will release a new song, sung with tears, till God wipes them away and we sing with nothing but joy in our hearts. 

Hoping for the best and dancing with the rest is all about embracing our brokenness and finding in it an opportunity to discover a new dream or purpose in life. The journey isn’t always “fun” but whoever told you the point of life is to “have fun” missed the memo I received!

When have you been broken? What have you done to help you move from that brokenness to a place of healing? 

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