I was watching a movie the other night. Not a Hallmark movie, but one similar in storyline. I just love a cheesy Hallmark movie. The would-be, didn’t-see-that-coming couple 😉 were having a conversation about a B&B they were restoring together, and the words caught my attention. The guy said that in New Zealand they fix the things that are broken. They don’t just throw them out. They cherish those things that are old, and mend those things that are broken.
Sometimes that’s exactly how I feel…old and broken and in need of fixing. Humans can only fix so much brokenness. We can only restore to a certain degree. But Jesus, He came to heal the brokenness of all man-kind.
As I was driving, listening to the radio and thinking about this brokenness thing, I heard a Lauren Daigle song that I have heard a thousand times before, but this time, the words hit me right in the heart. Why do her songs seem to always speak to me?
“When You don’t move those mountains I needed You to move, When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through. When You don’t give me answers, as I cry out to You, I will trust, I will trust in You.”
I had a friend once tell me that if we did what the Bible said to do about divorce and remarriage, no one would ever remarry. I get what she was saying, but how sad is that? We see what God says is best, but we go ahead with our plans instead.
I appreciate all the people who have had the courage to try again, after a failed marriage, but I can’t help wondering if that’s God’s best for them. Do we throw out the old in an attempt to fix what is broken? Are we allowing God to fix the things in need of repair?
I get that in the worst of marriage, the feelings of confusion, loneliness and abandonment that accompanies those times can be overwhelming. There is a lot of hard work necessary in each failed attempt to a healthy marriage which can cause us to feel disconnected to our spouses, no longer one with the most important person in our lives. Is it any wonder people think they no longer love the person they married?
When trust is shattered and self-esteem leaves us so empty, when we need the brokenness fixed, that’s the time to turn to the Mender Himself. Love isn’t a feeling, though those feelings are great. It’s very uncomfortable when you don’t feel what you think you should. But that’s when you trust in Him.
When He doesn’t move the mountains of despair in your marriage, trust in Him.
When He doesn’t part the waters of trouble and discord you wish to walk through, trust in Him.
When He doesn’t answer the way you want Him to. When it feels like He isn’t even listening, that’s when you put your trust in Him.
Every piece of our story matters; the hard, dry, dead places matter. The old places in need of restoration and the broken places that need to be repaired, they make up the story that He wants to write; all the good times and the messiness of our lives. No matter how hard it gets, or how confused I am, I will trust in Him.
Will you?
Laurie, I was just telling Jeremy about your blog this past weekend; the door to his house is now a vivid blue…
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Aww… my door is red now lol. I hope Jeremy is recovering well.