Unshackled Moments ~ June 16 ~ Fixing Humpty Dumpty

Sometimes we break. Sometimes we are broken. Sometimes we may feel fractured, cracked but still in some form or fashion of what we were. But with that comes the fear that another blow or perhaps even a strong wind will shatter us completely and scatter the pieces. Sometimes life, our choices, the choices of others, tragedy and or the enemy create such wreckage that it seems like the scattering is already done. Maybe it's our dreams, or our plans for the future. Maybe it's a relationship or multiple relationships that suddenly seem beyond repair. Maybe it's our body, our spirit, our emotions and or our mind that feels like someone cut us up like a jig saw puzzle and dumped the pieces. Maybe it's our finances. There is no area of our life that is immune to being broken.

We look at ourselves, at the pieces of our broken lives laying scattered around us, pieces of hopes and dreams mixed with pieces of pain and misery. We wonder how we can ever be put together again. We may have even given up and tried to adjust to living a broken life. We may have bought the lie that God called us to live that broken life. After all, we grew up with the image of Humpty Dumpty lying at the bottom of the wall, hopelessly broken, with all the king's horses and men being unable to put him together again. We know from experience that sometimes when things are broken they can never be put together quite right. Even a jigsaw puzzle perfectly pieced together shows every cut and crack. How can we hope to pull ourselves together?

The simple answer is that  we can't. But still, often we try. We know God's desire is to bring healing and restoration to our lives, but we can't imagine how or we wait with the ghost of hope to die so that we can stand in His presence and be made whole. But the hope of heaven doesn't always alleviate the misery of feeling shattered, of living a fractured life, and something within us longs for healing. We have ideas and make plans to fix the  brokenness and put the pieces back together. They are the best we can come up with, the long shot we feel like we have to take, and they seem to be a good idea at the time. Then, when they fail, we feel more broken than before. We shake our heads in wonder and despair. If it's God's desire for us to be restored, why didn't our plan work, why isn't anything working?

I think it's because we have made one of two fatal errors. We have either given up and gone fishing like Peter trying to go on with life the best he could after being broken by his denial of Jesus and seeing his Lord betrayed and killed, or we have tried to make the miraculous promise of God come true in our own way and in our own power like Abraham creating an heir by sleeping with his wife's servant. Peter knew the words of Christ and the promise of the resurrection, but He couldn't see it from the midst of his personal turmoil. He lost hope and the ability to even think about anything  other than just making his way the best he could under the circumstances. Jesus being victorious over death didn't fit with what he could still believe after the cross. And today in the Middle East the descendants of Ishmael are fighting with the descendants of Isaac because the father of faith tried to make happen on his own what God said He Himself would do.

We can't fix ourselves. We can't put the pieces of our lives together. We can't heal and restore ourselves. And no one else can either. No one but God. God can. We are Humpty, hopelessly broken. But God. While all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't bring restoration and wholeness, the King can. We must surrender to the Healer and let Him do His work, but He wants to make us whole. We have to stop being afraid of what happens if it doesn't work, and what happens if it does. We have to stop demanding  that the process be instant and immediate while at the same time believing that it won't ever happen while we still breathe. The hell we know is not better than the healing we can't comprehend.

There will likely be a part for us to play. After all, Abraham had to sleep with his wife in order for God to miraculously cause her to conceive.  The King's people may play a part as well. God uses people to be His hands at times. But it can never be our effort or our plan. It is not the talent, skill or wisdom of others that repairs our lives, even when God uses people to help bring healing. Our reliance is on God's plan, God's timing and God's power. But while there is indeed restoration that will not be completed on this side of heaven, the children of God were never called to live lives of brokenness. Staying shattered is not a testimony of the power and love of God. He wants to heal us. We need to get out of the way and let Him.

Be self-controlled and vigilant always, for your enemy the devil is always about, prowling like a lion roaring for its prey. Resist him, standing firm in your faith and remember that the strain is the same for all your fellow-Christians in other parts of the world. And after you have borne these sufferings a very little while, God Himself (from whom we receive all grace and who has called you to share His eternal splendour through Christ) will make you whole and secure and strong. All power is His for ever and ever, amen!

- I Peter 3:8-11

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments and or listens to the messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions to more people by sharing the Moments and messages that you read or listen to? Hitting the share button instead of or in addition to the like button will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

If you would like to have notifications of new Unshackled Moments and messages sent to you via email, send an email to dalynwoodard@mail.com requesting to be added to the list. You can also follow Dalyn Woodard (@Dalynsmsings) on Twitter or Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.