“We are all broken by something.  We have all hurt someone and have been hurt.  We all share the condition of brokenness even if our brokenness is not equivalent.” – Bryan Stevenson

“Brokenness is God’s requirement for maximum usefulness.” – Charles Stanley

“Our brokenness has no other beauty but the beauty that comes from the compassion that surrounds it.” – Henri Nouwen

“Beautiful are those whose brokenness gives birth to transformation and wisdom.” – John Mark Greene

Without a doubt, my friend, I’m about as broken as one can get.

This isn’t what you think it is.  It isn’t a self-absorbed pity party.  As you will find out later, it is written with intention and purpose – to shed light on a topic each of us desperately try to conceal, stuff down, and keep in the darkest places of our soul.

For me, the brokenness has come from rejection.  Some of my earliest memories shed light on how much it has permeated and overtaken me – defined who I am and how I behave.  The pain of it is something I have lived with since I can remember.  It has affected not only me, but spilled over from my life into every life I have touched – my family, close friends and acquaintances, intimate relationships, and even how I view people in general.

The pain and brokenness of rejection cuts deep.  “There must be something horrible in me – something so disgusting and grotesque – a reason others don’t like me.”   When you look in a mirror, you look desperately for it, to find it, that thing, that character flaw, that physical imperfections first.  You never feel comfortable in public, because you fear that whatever it, that illusive, disgusting thing about you that brings about the rejection, people will instantly see and dislike.  And with that comes pain and hurt – over and over again.  I get teased a lot because I like to wear hats, and sometimes I wonder if the hat is a psychological type of covering – a way to disguise or hide the real me – because that voice inside you keeps reminding you, “If they find out who you are, the real you, they are going to hate you – just like everyone else has.”  Is it real or is it an illusion or is it both?  Regardless, it has the same affect.

To avoid it, you distance yourself from others – bringing about a self-imposed loneliness that can be too much to bear at times.  You fear getting too close to someone, giving yourself and your heart to them, because you have convinced yourself they will inevitably see what everyone else has and cast you aside without hesitation.

You not only avoid others, you begin to despise them for the hurt they cause.  You group people together unconsciously – seeing everyone as a threat to how you see yourself.  Strange enough, you start to blame people for the damaged image you have of yourself.

Rejection has brought with it a unique sadness, a depression, loneliness and a distancing from others that has broken me – created a defective fracture or crack in my being that won’t ever be fixed or easily mended.

My brokenness is found in the origins of rejection.  What is yours?  What has you broken to the point of feeling like you can never be whole again?

Here is the first thing my friend that each of us must consider:  We are all broken – every one of us.

I believe when we come to this conclusion, we stop trying to hide it, to fix it on our own, or to believe the lie that it is something unique to us alone. 

Some of us hide it by creating a façade – pretending to be something we are not.  The advent of social media has helped perpetuate this.  Some of us hurt so badly from the brokenness, we try desperately to numb it with sex, alcohol, and drugs that take us away from our perceived realities for a moment.  Pretending something isn’t there or numbing your senses to it doesn’t make it go away.  We must face the brokenness head on in order to see it in the light of truth – to learn and grow from it.

If fact, some of the healing that has occurred within myself has come from looking at the brokenness in others – not in a judgmental, critical way, but in a compassionate, loving and understanding way.  When I see the struggle in others, I begin to realize the struggle within me isn’t so rare or unique.

Think if everyone in this world, the moment they cast their eyes toward someone else, saw with a compassionate heart the brokenness within them.  We would all begin to heal.  We would all begin to feel accepted again.  We would all feel loved and renewed.

So, my friend, reveal your brokenness – get it out into the open, into the fresh air and into the light!  Look hard to see it compassionately in others and you won’t feel so alone or tarnished or damaged.  Help them in their brokenness and they in turn will begin to heal your own.

Secondly, realize that brokenness is not a random thing – never driven by fate or luck or chance.  The truth is that brokenness is allowed, is providential, and is connected to personal destiny.  It is meant to shape you – to mold you for what lies ahead.  There is absolute, definitive purposes behind it – meant ultimately for your good.

You see….the very intent of our journey here is to learn, to grow, and to experience difficulties that stretch us, enlighten us, and bring us to new heights.  This can only be done in brokenness my friend – there is no other path to take that accomplishes it.  When you are given the wisdom to see your brokenness as a gift to you – your destiny within it begins to unfold.

I pray that today, if you are feeling helplessly broken, that you feel my presence beside you – giving you assurance you are not alone.  Each of us is broken.  I hope you let your brokenness rise to the surface of your life – giving light to it in order to view it in a form of truth and genuineness like you never have before.

More importantly, I pray that you see it not as a burden or weight, but as a purposefully crafted gift to you – designed to bring you to a higher place and a fulfilled destiny.

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” – Psalm 34:18 NLT

“Who is giving healing to the broken of heart and is binding up their griefs”? – Psalm 147:3 YLT

God bless each and every one of you today and always!