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!

Repair it, or replace it?

Have you ever heard the quote, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." (Frederick Douglass) His words are truer than we might realize, for God reminds us to train up our children in the way they should go, spare the rod and spoil the child (Proverbs 13:24), and that discipline proves a father's love for his child (Proverbs 3:12). If there is so much emphasis on training up our children in "the right way" so they will make decisions which end up being "good choices", then how much more do you suppose God will do the same with us?  As Douglass said, it is much easier to build us up than to repair us!

Teach a child how to follow the right way; even when he is old, he will stay on course.  (Proverbs 22:6 VOICE)

I think the first thing we all need to remember is that we are told to approach God as the small child does - with innocence, curiosity, interest, and awe.  As we do, we are drawn into his presence and begin to sense the guiding direction of his hand.  A good parent isn't one who swings the paddle, spouts a plethora of obnoxious words to motivate us, or even one who just sits back watching us stumble through life.  A good parent is one who knows when to say "no", gives a little latitude when they know the child will not be harmed by their actions, and gives advice when the decisions are a little tougher than the child may be ready or equipped to handle at the moment.  As good as a parent may be, if the child is unwilling to embrace the direction given, life will always be a constant struggle of will.

As scripture implies, we need to be taught.  At first, I didn't want to buckle down in school to "learn my lessons" - I liked recess the best and that is where my mind constantly wandered!  Why?  It was fun - there was a chance to release my energy - and did I mention, it was fun?  Most of us go through life wanting all our decisions to be "fun" in nature. The tough ones we'd like to leave to someone else, but when it is a parent we are leaving those to, we can sometimes even resist what we know we don't want to deal with!  We don't want to have to learn the "hard stuff" as much as we want to know when the next "recess" will be!

Broken adults are often the result of lots and lots of missed-steps along the way in life.  Steps when we should have asked for direction and been willing to receive it, but chose instead to follow our own advice.  Steps when others with greater insight than we had tried to talk us out of whatever it was we were about to do, but we just couldn't bear to have anyone tell us what we needed to do.  Steps when we just followed and found ourselves following the wrong lead.  I think this is why God reminds us to come to him as little children - laying aside all our preconceived ideas of how life works, who controls all the pieces, and what is really "good" for us. Little children are drawn into loving arms, aren't they?  They learn to trust by being sheltered in those arms - even when the things they are asked to do seem contrary to their wishes or a little too frightening to handle alone.

While all brokenness is a place for God to begin a work of rebuilding in our lives, wouldn't it be nice if we didn't need to "deconstruct" what has been built in us in order to see the "construction" of what only he can create?  Truth be told, all of us are at different places of "reconstruction" in our lives. Some are further along than others because it was easier for them to get rid of the old and embrace the new - something just "clicked" on the inside of them and they saw the old as undesirable and the new as better than anything they could ever imagine or dream.  The rest of us are struggling with letting go of some of the decisions and missed-steps we have made in life.  We continue to look at the dilapidated ruins of those places where we are broken beyond measure, but we somehow escalate those ruins to a "monuments" of pain in our lives.  Monuments are things we protect, aren't they? Yet when it is all said and done, some of the things we have erected monuments to in our lives are not really worthy of that status!

We'd be better to allow God to build us up - taking apart the pieces which don't belong in our lives.  Just remember this - in order to see anything new growing in the place of the old, there has to be a removal of the old.  We cannot "build over" the rubble of our lives.  Brokenness is not a bad thing as long as we allow God the access to not "repair" all the broken parts, but replace them with what only he can bring into our lives.  Just sayin!

Construction Zone

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places."  (Ernest Hemingway)   Hemingway had a way with words which made him one of the most famous authors of all times, but he also had a connection with the despair and agony of the human soul which frequently came across in the words he penned.  He was able to connect with the perils of loss, maybe as a result of being part of the ambulance corps during World War I or because he personally experienced the severe wounds of war himself.  Either way, he made this connection of brokenness, despair, agony, and even sometimes defeat - all plaguing the human soul to some degree in almost all of his writings.  Yet, nothing he said ever rings truer than the words above - through all the breaking processes in life we might just be left a little stronger at the broken place! 

What sacrifice I can offer You is my broken spirit because a broken spirit, O God, a heart that honestly regrets the past, You won’t detest.  (Psalm 51:17 VOICE)

Broken places are the "construction zones" God uses to make stronger the foundation upon which our lives are formed.  We might think of them as rubble or damaged goods, but God looks on all those broken pieces as "building material".  Hemingway also said, "Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."  You might have heard the little analogy of the "dash" between the dates on your tombstone are what makes the man's legacy - it isn't that he was born, or that he died, but what he did in that span known as the "dash" between the dates. It is that dash which represents so many of those "construction zones" God can use to make a person's life truly rich, strong at all the broken places, not just left as a pile of rubble.

We often look at the broken places as no longer serviceable areas - the issues with that area are too great that dealing with it makes life almost unbearable.  Truth be told - we all have way more issues than we have strong places!  We all end up in some process where brokenness is produced - if not one way, then another.  Our battles and struggles are really not all that unique to each of us, yet even in the similarities, no two broken places in one or the other is exactly the same.  We all get to the place of "brokenness" at a different speed, with a different set of circumstances, and perhaps with a different amount of courage to deal with what brought us to that point.  Brokenness might look like devastation has occurred, but it takes a bulldozer to level the ground for the building, doesn't it?

A broken spirit and a contrite heart God will never despise, but guess what - these don't come naturally to us.  We all likely have a pretty confident spirit and haughty heart until we don't do well in the test!  At that place of "testing", what truly is within is revealed.  You can recognize those who have been through the "construction process" a time or two, though. There is a little bit more strength there as they face the present struggle or challenge. They aren't immune to the issues, they just know where to place their trust when going through that struggle.  They have learned their hope does not come from within themselves, but from God himself.

How we live and how we die - these distinguish a man one from another.  I have seen many live with their own passions driving and dictating all of their lives, only to see it end with a great deal of unfulfilled dreams and broken relationships.  I have also seen many live with determined connection with their God, observing their final hours as resolute joy in the face of seeing their heavenly Father face-to-face at last.  In between birth and death, they each faced their "construction zones", but those who realized brokenness isn't a tragedy, but a place for God to build us up stronger than before come to life's end with a different resolve. 

Brokenness doesn't spell disaster - it actually might just be a new beginning when it becomes the place where God's Spirit is free to dwell and do the work of making us stronger with all those broken pieces.  Just sayin!  

Don't deny being broken

Audrey Hepburn once said:  "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge you are never alone."  Think on that one a little and just ponder those three thoughts.  When we look for the good in others, we are bound to find it - because when we stop looking at others through critical eyes, we see the beauty in each of them.  When we speak words which build up and honor, we create a culture in which others may flourish and grow.  When we begin to live as examples of Christ's love, we can rest assured we are never walking alone - for not only are we walking with Christ, but others are drawn into this walk with us!  Wisdom brings strength - when we begin to apply the knowledge we obtain along our path in this life, we find not only inner strength, but an outward evidence of the strength which dwells within. 

Wisdom brings strength, and knowledge gives power. Battles are won by listening to advice and making a lot of plans. (Proverbs 24:5-6 CEV)

Knowledge gives power - because the basis of wisdom's strength is in the application of the knowledge we gain by walking side-by-side with Christ and with others who serve him.  As we often would like to think, strength and power often "co-exist" in this world, but I would challenge that one a little.  I have known a lot of powerful individuals who seriously lack moral strength.  I have known physically and emotionally strong individuals who lack power over some of the basest of urges in their lives.  It is not always true that strength and power co-exist, nor that they are always governed as they should be in our lives.  The truth of the matter is - we need a plan to live right, then we need to work the plan, then we need to be wise enough to know when the plan needs to be reworked along the way!  This is evidence of wisdom!  Ernest Hemingway said, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places."  Battles come and go in our lives - some are spiritual, while others are emotional or physical.  Regardless of the battle raging, we need to remember the place of strength may not always be the place where we don't bend or break!  It may be found at the place we became the most broken!

Broken people aren't weak, or lacking in wisdom and strength.  They are simply able to learn from the places they have experienced their brokenness - they apply what they have learned to make them even stronger where they were found to be the weakest!  Sometimes this is our greatest opportunity for learning what truly gives us strength in life - what gives us the power to endure and motor on in the face of trials and temptations greater than we might have ever imagined possible.  Brokenness is sometimes viewed as being "damaged" by what life brought your way - but I choose to think of brokenness as the place Christ can intervene to give me strength beyond my capacity!

Helen Keller faced tremendous obstacles - living in a world of deafness and blindness, yet achieving so much more than most in her position ever imagined possible.  Most of us don't realize even one of these handicaps which could present the greatest of obstacle in and of itself.  Yet, when she was faced with two of them together, she did not let it keep her from learning how to communicate with the use of her hands - something not ever realized as possible before.  There are times when we face obstacles which seem to present challenges to what we know to be possible - but then we are prompted to do what seems to be "unknown" or "unappreciated" as the means by which the challenge or obstacle may be overcome. It is this "stepping into" the unknown or previously unappreciated that often becomes the means by which we break-through into a new level of victory over the obstacles we face.

I think she said it well:  "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."  Maybe this is why the greatest places of strength in our lives are born out of the greatest areas of weakness and brokenness!  For it is in the place of brokenness that strength has the chance to finally become evident.  Just sayin!

Baggage claim

Broken:  Reduced to fragments; ruptured, torn, fractured; not functioning properly; incomplete; infringed upon or violated.  I honestly believe this is exactly how each and every one of us arrives at the feet of Jesus.  Somehow, whether through our own choices, or the impressions others leave in our lives, we arrive reduced to fragments, not functioning as we should, and sometimes just plain violated by another.  It isn't that our lives are perfect and we finally come to the feet of Jesus - we bring him the messiness of our lives and he welcomes them with open arms.  One of the songs which really ministers to my spirit is the one by Casting Crowns which kind of expresses this thought of being "Broken Together".  If you haven't heard it, there is a part of the song which simply states, "Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete...could we just be broken together".  If we stop for just a moment to understand the wisdom in those simple words, we might just begin to view our relationship with Jesus and each other a little differently.  In coming to Jesus, we are bringing broken (incomplete) lives to him - his response is to say it is just fine.  In sharing "community" with other believers maybe we need to have more of this perspective - allowing others (and ourselves) to just be "broken together".

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he saves those whose spirits are crushed. (Psalm 34:18 CEB)

The song kind of opens up the basic feelings of many of the individuals I have known over the years - the desire to just go "back to simpler times" - when life wasn't as complicated and messed up as it gets when there are wounds, shattered dreams, missed opportunities, and all the resulting emotional scars which result from us "living life".  Broken hearts long for repair - this is just true of all who are broken.  No one wakes up one day and makes a conscious choice to be wounded, violated, left with shattered fragments of a life.  There are times when we make some conscious decisions to just "walk around" in our shattered state, though.  Whenever we reject the welcoming arms of Jesus, feeling too ashamed or too afraid to approach him with the reality of our brokenness, we are going to continue to live pretty fragmented, emotionally "damaged" lives. While we don't want to "live" in a state of brokenness, we need to recognize it sometimes takes a little while for the shattered pieces to mend - much in the same way it takes a shattered bone a while to "remodel" and become strong again.  Even when the shattered bone heals, being helped along by the skilled hands of the orthopedic surgeon, that bone doesn't heal without scars.  Our lives are impacted - scars form - but we don't need to be ashamed or fearful to allow those scars to be seen.

I am a firm believer that truth, spoken in love, mends the broken heart by setting the person who bears those wounds free from their emotional bonds to those wounds.  I am an even strong believer in trusting that "modeled love" 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 that 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.  All I have to say is that 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 the 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 come to the reality 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", but will either be 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.  Sometimes we might like to think we don't, but none of us lives life without some type of "baggage".  When we judge another by their baggage we just might be limiting the great blessing that other person will bring into our lives (complete with all the 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 straightened 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 the truth - at best, we live life "broken together" until Jesus does his work in our lives.  Just sayin!

You got all the pieces?

As I was driving home yesterday, I went by a local church I often pass - one with a sign out front which they change periodically to have some new message to give you some fodder for thought.  They didn't let me down!  The sign read:  "God wants to restore your heart, but he needs all the pieces."  I got to thinking about all the "pieces" of our heart we somehow manage to give away, deny, and the like.  It made me think how difficult this job of restoring a "clean" heart within us really is for God - not beyond him, by any means - but if we hold back the pieces, or don't even realize we haven't given him all of them, it is easy to see how we might "deal" with issues for quite a while in our lives.  As I began to dwell on this a little further, the easiest thing to do is to take the attention off oneself and place it squarely on another - so I began to think about my kids and some of the things they have dealt with through the years, pieces of their hearts clearly "damaged" by events they experienced.  I began to wonder if God had those "pieces" or not.  As I began to think about what my kids have experienced, it wasn't long before God began to turn the table on me - bringing me face-to-face with "me" and my "pieces".  God is amazing at how he does this in our lives.  So, as I communed with him on my commute home yesterday, I'd like to share some of the "pieces" I think we often deny, hide, or just plain have forgotten about in our lives.

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10 NLT)

One of those "pieces" of our heart might be labeled as "regret" - those events happening in our lives, and even those which could have but did not, which leave some element of a sense of loss or disappointment.  For me, there are more than just one or two of these.  I can think pretty far back in to my pre-teen years and find some of these "pieces" scattered here and there.  How about you?  Actions I took then still cause me some "regret" today - simply because I cannot "undo" what was "done" or left "undone".  This is often the case with a good many of us - we simply cannot truly "retrace" our steps and make all which gives us regret "better" by doing something now, or doing something differently now.  What we can do with our "heart pieces" which we can label as "regret" is to bring them to Jesus because he knows how to make those new.  We just cannot "undo" what has been done, but he can "make new" what needs to be done moving forward!

Another "piece" of our heart I thought about as often getting denied or just plain unrecognized is that of "lost trust".  These are the pieces which occur when little by little others seem to disappoint us because they didn't keep their promises to us.  Their actions left us with little bits and pieces of mistrust and before long, those little pieces broke off a huge chunk of our hearts.  As I looked back in my life, there were times when I was the culprit here - the one doing the "breaking off" of the pieces of another's heart.  By my actions, I caused others to not be able to trust me - because I chose to live by dishonesty.  I am getting real with you here today, my friends, so I hope you won't be offended when I confess a few things which have been part of my past.  I learned to embellish the truth as a child - often creating a fantasy life to live within - simply because I didn't think my "real" life was worth much.  I didn't believe anyone would like the "real" me, so I created an imaginary me.  It was this continual cycle of having to embellish one untruth upon another which eventually caused a lot of broken pieces in the lives of those who trusted me!  It took a lot to lay down those untruths and to become the "me" you see today - no longer hiding behind the stories of greatness I had portrayed to others because I thought they could not like or accept the real me.  When I finally laid down the untruth, making truth the measure by which I would live my life, I began to see the "pieces" restored in me, but going back to my first piece (that of regret), I saw where I had affected the lives of those I loved by leaving their hearts with little pieces missing!  We don't just affect our own hearts by our actions - the lives and hearts of a great many may be affected, as well.  Maybe this is one of the hardest works of restoration God has to do with our hearts - the rebuilding of trust.  I know it is possible because I have seen it in my own life, but if you are there today, don't lose hope.  Don't buy into the feelings of regret and the belief that you can never trust again.  God can bring healing, it will just take a little time.

Lastly, I thought about the "piece" of our heart we might call "failure".  These are the pieces created when we try things in our own effort, or completely in our own self-will independent of what God instructs for our lives.  They are not always big pieces, either - but they have a cumulative effect.  Little by little, each attempt which ends in failure becomes a regrettable event, and often reflects on how it is we trust others and how they trust us.  It also impacts how well we trust God - especially when what we thought we were attempting is what we thought God wanted for our lives!  You see, these "pieces" all go together, my friends.  No piece is without meaning - no piece is less significant than another.  The problem with "crumbling" structures is that when one piece begins to breakdown, the other pieces follow suite!  It is like a row of dominoes - one falls and the others begin to fall simply because of the pressure exerted by the first one which fell.  One piece of our heart becomes damaged and the other pieces surrounding it are affected and then the next and so on.  This is why we cannot do this work of "putting the pieces back together" all by ourselves.  We are just not capable of "making new" - at best, we can "glue" together broken pieces, but they will always reflect the brokenness when we do it that way!

There is no other way to have the pieces be put back together in "perfect" formation than for God to do it.  He doesn't simply fit the pieces back together and use some "super-natural glue" to hold all the pieces in place.  Instead, he takes all the pieces into his care, and gives us a new heart to work with!  Now, that is good news indeed!  New for used and broken! In God's economy, used and broken are just a means by which he can make "new again" what we have offered to him in multiple pieces!  Just sayin!

Crossing deserts?

I like salty treats - even to the point of craving them sometimes.  Whenever I consume them though, I usually end up drinking a lot of water - because they make me thirsty.  In the end, they leave me thirsty for a long time, not just while I am taking them in.  My body simply cannot process all the sodium in the salty treats without a whole lot of water.  In fact, whenever we find ourselves in the midst of the "excesses" of life, we often crave what we most need to help us deal with the excess.


God—you're my God! I can't get enough of you! I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts. (Psalm 63:1 The Message)


So, we crave what we most need to deal with what we find ourselves enduring!  Sometimes we are "enduring" stuff by our own doing - like when I eat a huge bowl of Cheezits or eat a whole candy bar.  The sodium from one and the sugar from the other just cause me to "crave" the very thing which will help my body deal with the excess of sodium or sugar.  Now, let's take a look at some of the things we find which develop a more "spiritual" craving.


Our psalmist gives us an example of traveling across dry and weary deserts as a source of both hunger and thirst.  We all have them - deserts.  We may live in the greenest parts of the world, but we endure deserts!  Let's just look at a couple of deserts, shall we?


- The desert of loneliness.  We may find ourselves suddenly without familiar acquaintances.  Perhaps it is the result of a move to a new locale, the loss of a spouse, or the lack of solid friends we can pour our hearts out to.  Regardless of the cause, we find ourselves enduring a sense of loneliness.  At the core of loneliness is the idea of being without a companion in the journey.  This desert is then a place of isolation - whether you wanted it or not.  In the place of isolation, we often find ourselves without the people or things we have found ourselves relying on in the past.  Now, as we examine the purpose of this desert, we might find it hard to imagine a "good" purpose!  Being isolated is definitely NOT God's plan for us humans - he made us specifically to "relate" to others, not to be alone.  So, what "good" comes out of this desert?  


Well, I can only share some of the things which have come out of my times of being on a journey in this desert.  First, I have learned I actually NEED other people.  There is nothing more revealing about our "dependence" on the feedback of others, the sense of hope rendered in a simple touch, etc., than to be suddenly alone.  We need connection.  In fact, believe it or not, we crave it!  Second, I believe God may actually allow some of us to walk this desert to draw us closer to those he has given in our lives.  You know the saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"?  I think it is realized the most in the desert of loneliness!  God's lessons to you may be a little different, but if you will allow him to speak to you in your desert, he will reveal the lessons!


- The desert of despair.  This is a most difficult desert to face.  It is one in which we have lost hope - we are without any sense of things ever getting better.  In this desert, we often find ourselves out so far on the limb, the weight of our burden so great, hearing the cracking of the limb as it strains to keep us upright.  We are "stuck" - we cannot go further out on the limb or turn back.  This is indeed a most difficult desert to cross.  Yet, the most hopeless place is often the place our faith begins to take flight!  


In the desert of despair, we begin to look for solutions we often ignore when things are smooth sailing.  Things like intimate prayer with our Maker - pouring out our hearts to him with eager desperation.  In the moment of despair, don't we often find ourselves looking back to God?  Did you catch that?  We are looking "back" to God!  It is an amazing thing, but despair often drives us back to God - maybe even without ever recognizing just how comfortable we had become without him!


- The desert of brokenness.  The very thing we need in this desert is the very thing we have absolutely no ability to accomplish on our own.  It is only by the restorative and regenerating touch of our God we cross this desert.  We may be "broken" by a whole lot of things - bad relationships, words which have left us scarred, or just a series of bad choices which resulted in us being "undone" by life.  


In the desert of brokenness, we need "repair", don't we?  What we drink the most freely of in this desert is God's grace.  It is indeed a refreshing and restorative "drink".  


Regardless of the desert, look again at our passage.  The purpose of the desert is to cause us to hunger and thirst.  Hunger for the best, thirst for what will refresh truly.  We may have a lot of desert-crossing in our days.  Just remember this:  No desert is without hunger or thirst of some kind.  What we do with the hunger or thirst determines the outcome of the desert-crossing!