Broken cookies are still good!

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 34:18-20)

Truth, spoken in love, mends the broken heart by setting the person who bears those wounds free from their emotional bonds tying them to those wounds. I believe in trusting that modeling love in our lives will go further than any words we can speak to bind up the wounds of another. I think this is why Jesus didn't just open heaven's expanse one day, speak down the words "Come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest". He didn't just expect us to understand this - he needed to come down to this earth and model the release of those burdens for us. He had to model how much his love meets our brokenness. He didn't just forgive the sinner - he bound up their wounds, straightened their deformities, and restored them to a place of honor or respect in society. The leper wasn't just healed of their diseased skin - they were told to present themselves to the priest and be restored. The prostitute wasn't just forgiven for her indiscretions - she was honored by Jesus as "worthy" of his time and attention and trust.

Some of us believe we cannot possibly be of value to others because our "brokenness" is too great - because we still limp, not always getting things "right" in our lives. I still limp. I still have some pretty deep scars. I don't have all the "pieces" of my fragmented life all put together in perfect order. I am on the road to mending - as are all of the other folks I have met along the way. The most realistic thing we can do is to realize we will walk this life "broken together" until the pieces mend! As soon as we recognize EVERYONE has those fragments - some are just more visible than others - we won't be willing to walk "broken together". We will be either too judgmental to accept the broken-hearted, or too focused on our own wounds to feel we can be of any value to another in relationship. We probably have all heard someone say, "He sure has a lot of baggage" or "She's pretty messed up". Truth be told, we ALL have baggage. When we judge another by their baggage, we could be limiting the great blessing that other person will bring into our lives (complete with all that baggage)!

I really don't know "how" your fragmented life happened, but I know those fragments will mend in time when Jesus has a chance to work in your life for a while. I don't know who violated your trust, abused your body, or sent you deep into an emotional storm with gale-force damage - but I do know who can be trusted above all others, brings healing to broken souls, and settles the worst of storms in our lives. Some of those who saw Jesus restore blind eyes and straighten bent limbs asked the telling question: "Who sinned - the parent or the child"? Isn't that just like us when we see "damaged goods" restored? We want to know "who was to blame" when all Jesus wants to do is elevate them back to the place of freedom, liberty, and celebrated recovery! Maybe we'd do well to adopt that at best, we all live life "broken together" until Jesus completes his work in our lives. Broken cookies are still quite tasty! Just sayin!