Broken things can lead to eventual good
Last Sunday’s edition of the 缅北禁地, carried a story regarding a police officer in Baltimore who was attacked by a mob as he tried to make an arrest. In that article, Sgt. Mike Mancuso, the president of the Baltimore Police union, angrily asserted that the city of “Baltimore was essentially BROKEN.” The allegation is difficult to deny. The fact is many feel that the same is true regarding the whole of America. After watching the Senate impeachment hearings, there is little doubt that the U.S. Congress is BROKEN. I once doubted that America would ever see again the division and BROKENNESS that accompanied the Vietnam war. I was wrong.
But BROKENNESS is not limited to crime statistics or political wars. I refer to warnings that the Lord gives in His word and, when necessary, warns us once again. One of these dangers is the folly of putting complete trust in anyone or anything other than the Lord. The Bible repeatedly shows that since the “Fall,” and until Jesus comes back that this whole world is BROKEN. Since that ancient event, when sin first entered, there is a universal language that is understood by all of humanity. It is the language of tears and the voice of BROKENNESS. Many of us will eventually learn that the things of this world that we once thought were invincible and unassailable, finally, and absent God’s grace, are BROKEN. The story of human life in this sin-rent world is an unfolding drama of eventual “BREAKING” in one realm or another.
In childhood, there are BROKEN toys over which we grieve. For all, and sometimes while still in our youth, our health and strength are eventually BROKEN. For many, the BROKEN promises or betrayal by trusted friends can devastate us. There is a special BROKENESS when we must go to the grave with a parent, a sibling, our child, or a dear friend. I know because I did that with my mother this past month. And where are those who can boast they will never know of BROKEN dreams and futile plans?
But still, there is a “BROKENESS” that goes beyond and is more devastating than most other sorts of “BREAKING.” Tragically, more and more spouses are learning in these times, of BROKEN trust, and BROKEN vows and BROKEN hearts and BROKEN homes. This past week, I learned of a couple from a previous church, two long-time friends, who I once pastored and whose marriage of over 30 years has been “BROKEN.” I wondered, “How can this be?” It is so heartbreaking. Sometimes we don’t know what to say or even how to pray.
The “BROKEN” marriage is a tragedy of a particular sort. Only those who experience divorce know how debilitating it is. The anguish, humiliation, and despair of spousal betrayal and rejection are nearly unspeakable. During the several decades of ministry before my divorce, I honestly tried to empathize with those unjustly divorced so I would know better how to minister to them. I now realize how empty my assertion that “I know what you are going through,” must have sounded.
The untimely death of a faithful and loving spouse is devastating. I saw this again this week when the devoted wife of a dear friend and church member died unexpectedly. I have noticed that a bereaved mate can eventually come to accept such death as the will of God. After the funeral and a time of mourning, closure comes. At the same time, the grieving spouse treasures memories of past love and the blessed hope of reunion in heaven.
Albeit, some try to equate the experience associated with the death of a spouse with a divorce. There are similarities, but divorce is much different. The main issue is that divorce is not a “natural” or even an accidental death of a marriage. It is a nuptial execution – – – the premeditated murder of a marriage. Divorce does not allow the relief and acceptance of God’s will that comes with healthy death mourning. There is neither a resignation to God’s will nor the consolation that a divorce was the plan of God.
Surely there is mourning in most divorces. But this sorrow is not the sort that lends itself to the acceptance of loss that eventually comes after physical death has taken a loving mate. Divorce does not bury its marital corpses; it merely makes them zombies to each other. The devastation wrought upon young children involved in parental breakups is especially damaging and often life-lasting. In a BROKEN home, the distance from a former spouse, whether measured in miles or years, does not change what once was even though it can never be again.
There is another issue that I have observed, but for a long time, I could not understand. It was this. When we experience BROKEN things, it is always painful. But in time, it also becomes apparent that the Lord often uses the BROKEN things for His glory and our eventual good. This confidence usually happens when we rest in the explicit promises that it is Christ alone who does all things well. And when we accept that He is the one Person who will never leave us nor forsake us.
It is well that we not forget when thinking about BROKENESS, even our own, that it was Christ who was “BROKEN” at Calvary so that we might be “fixed.” There was a time when preachers taught that it was needful that our hard-hearts be BROKEN. When God creates this “BROKEN” or “contrite spirit” in us, it is only then that we can be spiritually “fixed.”
William “Ed” Nicholson is pastor of the Grace Baptist Chapel located in Dunbar Twp. in the village of Little Summit. He is a native of this area and has earned graduate degrees in both Bible and Education. He is a life member of the amputee chapter of the Disabled American Veterans. He may be reached by email at willnpa9@gmail.com.