Embracing Brokenness. Finding Wholeness

(via Our Daily Bread)

No one chooses brokenness. It comes upon us…suddenly or gradually. But then we find and then recognize we are broken.

Is it a failed dream for a child? Is it the realization that what I’ve labored for wasn’t worth the effort? Is it years of faithful work seemingly without reward? Is it the inescapable reality of death approaching, lurking around the corner, for a loved one?

For Eunice, it’s been the slow but persistent clarion call that her mother is dying – from her mother’s steady decline of mental ability to the sudden shock of a fall to the overwhelming witness of experiencing unmanageable pain. Brokenness is realizing that what once was whole and entire, beautiful and new, is no longer able to function according to design.

Embracing brokenness is acknowledging that is the Lord who ordains our days and accepting that the grass withers and the flower fades but the word of God endures forever.

Yet, what do we do with brokenness when we claim the name of Christ?

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

But being broken feels like being enslaved. It doesn’t feel like freedom.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Where is the abundant life when you watch a loved one die?

Our redeemer Jesus understands and feels our pain.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14 – 16

Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  Surely he is a man of sorrows himself.

These past months I’ve been thinking, praying, and learning how to process my experiences within. Only recently have I found the words to express these private thoughts. I’ve been meditating on verses which exchange despair for hope.


Can you, with me, testify to this promise of God?

Image from Jo Dean via Pinterest

As you face your own brokenness, I pray that you might become whole, through the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  I’d love to pray with you in our shared brokenness that together we might embrace the love of the one who makes us whole.

– Eunice

3 thoughts on “Embracing Brokenness. Finding Wholeness”

  1. Aw, Eunice, this is so sad about your mom. It’s hard to know you’re suffering so. I’ve not experienced what you describe, but I know my sinful nature, and that is enough, for now, to drive me to that promise. Thanks for letting us in. <3

  2. I can certainly empathize with your pain Eunice. My mom has had a slower declination, but no less worrisome and tiring at times. Going thru the life of Joseph again in Bible study, and as is always the case, God is showing me things that I missed the last 3 times – I didn’t need it at the time. One of the many parallels between his and Jesus’ life is how he was so faithful to Gods plan for him. Joseph didn’t SEE the end from his circumstances: hated by his brothers, in the pit, sold into slavery, in jail and forgotten by the cup bearer. In a way, God had to give him MORE faith and grace to be true in all of those dark places. Also, when you follow Gods plan, the most people are blessed for the longest period of time. Joseph provided well for his fathers family for over 400 years. Even the Egyptians were blessed in that time, but especially during the famine.

    I look at my situation and I have to say “Gods in this.” He knows what everyone touching my life needs: a sister, an aid, a neighbor, an old friend… I get excited when He gives us glimpses of what He sees down the road. When He tells me “If I didn’t have you there, this person would not have been ministered to, that one may not have been coming to Christ now, and this one would be in despair.” All the while He’s teaching me what I need. Yes, Romans 8:28 applies in our situations. If we read a few more verses down though (vv 35-39) “…we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us…”!

    1. Thank you, Mike! We continue to trust God and ask that He will empower you to continue believing in His kindnesses and mercies.

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