Near to the Brokenhearted
Every day I hear stories of brokenness.
· A grieving young adult who just lost both parents in a car accident.
· A dad who no longer has a relationship with his teenage son.
· A faithful wife who has just discovered her husband’s hidden computer and horrible addiction to pornography.
· A questioning woman who doesn’t know how to deal with her mother who no longer recognizes her because of Alzheimer’s.
We live in a broken world.
In the midst of this brokenness, David makes an audacious claim in Psalm 34. It’s worth remembering that this Psalm came from a time of deep distress in his own life. He was an innocent fugitive, in flight from his own people, needing to find refuge in a foreign land by pretending to be insane.
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:17-18).
As I contemplate these verses, two things stand out.
1. The Psalm recognizes the brokenness of our world. It acknowledges that there will be times of trouble, which leave us broken hearted and crushed in spirit. The Psalms can be brutally honest.
2. The Psalm makes a stunning affirmation: During our difficult times, God does not stand at a distance, simply watching things unfold. Quite the opposite! God draws near to the broken-hearted and those crushed in spirit.
Perhaps the best way to explain what this means is to share the testimony of one of our counselors at Renewing Life. In a relatively short period of time, she experienced the deaths of her husband and four years later her teenage daughter. Yet, she has also experienced what it means for Jesus to draw near. Here’s what she says:
“Jesus is close to the brokenhearted; it doesn’t say you won’t be brokenhearted; it doesn’t say you won’t be crushed. But He’s there. When I went through the loss of my husband and then my daughter I thought, Why was I singled out for this; why did it come to me? But the verses said it didn’t come to me. Sin is in the world; terrible things happen to everyone! It doesn’t say He will prevent broken heartedness or a crushed spirit. But it says He is there; He has never not been there. I’ve wrestled with this a lot over the years.
Why does everything happen? I was so busy trying to figure out the ‘why’; what was the plan? I realized that I wasn’t connecting with God and wasn’t receiving from Him what I needed because I was too busy trying to figure out the ‘why.’ One day God tapped me on the shoulder and said I didn’t need to know why for everything that is happening to everyone but that He’s here to help me get through it and use it in a way that will see me through.
What is being delivered? I wrestled with this a lot too. When you go through the cancer process as I did with my first husband… You want him to be delivered from it and stay to raise the children with me. But deliverance for him was not that. Yet God delivered him from eternal damnation; He saved him, saved his soul!
When my daughter died four years later in a car wreck I asked, ‘Why couldn’t I have been protected from this? This was very personal, very difficult! Why couldn’t she have been delivered from that? She was 18; wasn’t drunk; wasn’t doing anything wrong. She stayed up late, drove home without her seat belt. I didn’t get a chance to process this, to say good-bye, to heal.
I wasn’t angry; I didn’t cry for three years. It just hurt too much to think about it. God gave me a “protective numbness.” It seems like a long time, but God was there in this with me. He was saying, ‘Don’t shut people out. Don’t stop seeking support.’ I wasn’t in denial. I could talk about it. But I wasn’t ready to go deeper. He knew I couldn’t handle it all at once nor did I have to figure it all out.
I’ve learned to embrace His presence in my life, every day, even if I’m not all there. I now see He understands my weaknesses; I give Him the room to work with me and through me, not that I’m figuring it out but receiving it.
We are able to relax and surrender in Him on days when we think we’ve got it all together and when we don’t have any of it. He’s there and it becomes more tangible to rest in Him.
I still get anxious sometimes. It’s much easier just to say, ‘I need your help’. He’s our help every day.”
Are you experiencing brokenness in your own life these days? The Lord is not distant. He is willing to draw near. If you are not sure what this means or would like help in knowing how to experience his presence, I encourage you to reach out to a pastor or call us at the Renewing Life Center.
Jesus is healing and hope for our brokenness.
Patricia Meye, M.Div., D.Min.