The Need for Brokenness.

A few years ago I was sitting in church, right beside one of my very dear friends. During prayer I wrapped my arms around a very broken-hearted girl and comforted her as she cried on my shoulder because one of her friends left for college without saying goodbye to her. During the next song I stood beside her, helping to hold her up as the tears continued to stream down her face. Today I cried in church because that same girl I comforted left without saying goodbye to me. 

That pain and hurt caused me to fall on my knees before my God when I got home from church. I prayed that God would show me His plan and that He would use this to bring me closer to Him. It's funny- the second part of my prayer was already answered before I prayed it.

You see, God used that situation to bring me to my knees before Him and into His presence. By doing so- I was already being brought closer to Him. 

I think this is a large part of the reason why God allows there to be so much pain and brokenness in this world. He uses the pain, the hurt, the brokenness, to bring people to Him. And then once they come and truly seek Him in the midst of the hurt He reveals a gentle, loving, and caring side of Himself that comforts and starts to bring about a healing that can only come from Him. That doesn't mean it will be easy; it doesn't mean that once you give it to Christ it will all go away. But it does mean that God will carry you through and give you strength when you thought you didn't have any left.

Just something to think about. I often wonder when I see or talk with people why there is so much brokenness in this world. Why God lets certain things happen. But there is no doubt in my mind that some painful circumstances are meant to lead us closer to our Lord and Savior. 

And I'm thankful that I have a loving God to turn to to carry me forward when my heart is hurting. It makes me want to go out and tell people about Him and how awesome He is. And maybe I'll do just that.