All the kings horses...

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The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. (Ernest Hemingway)

What are some of your worst 'broken places'? Maybe you have been 'broken' in the place we call the 'heart' - someone disappointing you so badly that you just have never fully healed. Perhaps it is in the place we call the 'spirit of man' - something occurring that just shredded your confidence and left you not wanting to ever try again. You and I both have broken places, but they don't have to be places where brokenness remains. There is hope for restoration beyond what we imagine possible when Jesus touches those places.

The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken! (Psalm 34:17-20)

We might believe the 'damage' is permanent, but the moment we ask Jesus to take over that 'damaged place', the healing begins. If what Hemingway proposes is true, that the world actually does 'break' everyone, then it is also true that ALL of us need some 'putting back together' from time to time. When we allow Christ to heal those broken places, we come away stronger than we were before. Not because we have formed 'callouses' in those places, but because whatever debris was there from the hurt is removed, not just covered over.

It was Hemingway that also reminds us, "When you go to war as a boy, you have a great illusion of immortality. Other people get killed, not you... Then, when you are badly wounded the first time, you lose that illusion, and you know it can happen to you." We might think we are never going to experience the brokenness we work so hard to avoid, but it is all an illusion. At some point, like it or not, we will experience that broken place. If you haven't realized it already, broken places are God's opportunities. Just sayin!

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