I think as humans we're often ashamed of our brokenness.
We are ashamed of the dark parts of our story, the hard things we have experienced and the struggles we may still be facing.
We may feel that we can never be made whole again. And yet quite often, the opposite proves true- that through our brokenness and our pain or trials, we gain strength and newness of life, if we seek God in our brokenness and have the honesty and vulnerability to let Him work through us.
We can give our brokenness to God- and experience the transformation of being made into a beautiful, new creation- or we can live un-surrendered and let Satan speak lies into the hurts of our hearts.
What we choose to believe about our broken pieces, will begin to define the thoughts we speak to ourselves and will form the ways we choose to live our life.
If you ask a doctor if your broken arm (simple and clean break) will ever heal up again, they will often tell you that if well trained that arm actually has the potential to become stronger than the other one. Likewise, if we think about an athlete in training, he or she is constantly breaking down their body in order to grow stronger. The physiology simplified goes something like this:
Anaerobic exercise like weight lifting or splinting causes damage to muscle fibers (myofibrils). After being damaged (inflamed, broken, worn down) the body begins to repair damage by bringing white blood cells to the scene, cytokines, and satellite cells. After 48 hours of rest- muscle growth or hypertrophy can occur because of an increase in the volume of myofibrils.
So even physiologically, brokenness and tiredness can actually induce gains. But even more so mentally, I believe brokenness, losses, or challenges give us the opportunity to overcome or heal which can in return make us more compassionate, strong, and "durable" than before. More important than mental strength though, is the opportunity to know God better and become more reliant on Him.
As tempting as it is to strive, perform, or try to earn our way into the "good graces of Christian living" we will find so much more joy when we confess that we are broken sinners and accept the help of God to save us.
We are all going to go through dark places and difficult things in our life. And you may be going through something so dark and lonely- that you feel no one will ever understand or relate to you- or be able to love you in spite of that thing. But the lies of the devil are to make you believe you have to walk through darkness alone. The devil wants to isolate you from God and other believers in order to destroy you.
Psalm 34:18 says "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."
I want you to know that although it may feel like you are in a tunnel of darkness all alone, Jesus longs to walk beside you and light up your path. No sin is too dark for God's forgiveness. God's grace is for you and He is in favor of you.
It is so hard to be walking in those dark places.
And it can be so hard to feel like you are broken.
But I just want to remind you again, that God has a plan for you in spite of your brokenness. God has a purpose despite any darkness you may be facing.
And for me personally, walking through darkness and difficult times has drastically changed my walk with God for the better. Going through some extremely difficult situations has made my walk with God so much deeper and more solid than I think it would have ever been, had I not experienced certain trials.
And looking back into my darkness, even though I felt alone, God was with me the whole time. He was protecting me. He was growing me. He was helping me and giving me glimmers of light in the darkness.
So I just encourage you, if you are walking through something difficult or dark right now, or if you are feeling broken... to just hold on. Hold onto God a little harder. Hold on to the solid and wise friends you may have.
Don't give up. Because God is bringing you through this and He is making you into someone so beautiful, strong, and ready to shine His light to a dark world.