Healing Brokenness

​The middle toe on my right foot sits at a funny angle.

I’m 45 years old, and that toe has been twisted unnaturally since a heated argument with my older sister in the backseat of the car when I was around age 8. We had already been in trouble for constant bickering during the interminably long car ride through the barrenness of Wyoming. It had gotten to the point that our parents had forbidden us to make any further noise, plunging the car into complete silence. (What seemed like a punishment as a child now seems like pure bliss as a parent!) When my sister reached over and grabbed my toe and gave a vicious twist, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut as silent tears blurred my vision of the sagebrush and antelope rushing by the side window.

 That silence resulted in a forever-malformed toe. But to be honest, its brokenness has made no huge impact on my life, other than an occasional uncomfortable shoe-fitting.
 
What about the broken things in my life that aren’t quite so easy to ignore?
 
What about the broken relationships, broken promises, and broken hearts?
 
I’m encouraged by several stories of brokenness in the book of Acts. Throughout the book, we see the Church born and launched to impact the world. We hold our breath as thousands receive the Holy Spirit for the first time, and cheer when Saul realizes his new identity in Christ as Paul the apostle. We cringe as Stephen is stoned for his faith, while secretly wishing our faith was as strong as his, without the high cost. We cheer when Peter and John visit the beggar at the Beautiful Gate and take time to really see him - as more than an inconvenience.
 
Over the span of a few verses, a man who had been lame from birth has his brokenness healed. A few chapters later, Peter is traveling the country when he finds a man, Aeneas, who has been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. I’m willing to bet that neither the lame beggar nor Aeneas believed they would ever feel the weight of their bodies supported by their own two feet.
 
But God.
 
But God had another plan for both of their lives. A plan that included full healing of brokenness that seemed impossible to fix.
 
Do you find yourself accepting your brokenness? Some brokenness is physical, other times it is emotional. All of us experience spiritual brokenness, and God sent His son Jesus to heal that brokenness.  It’s possible that God has chosen to have you wait for full healing until heaven. But, friend, take heart! It’s never too late for God to choose to heal something in your life that you never thought would heal.
 
Broken things become whole in the hands of our God.
 
What are the broken things in your life that need the touch of the Savior? They may be small and seemingly insignificant, like my middle toe. Remember that nothing is too small, or too big, for God.
 
Neither of the men in Acts were actively pursuing healing, but God chose to heal them anyway. How much more does He want to heal those who come to Him and ask?
 
Don’t wait. Ask God to redeem the brokenness in your life. He is willing and able to restore you to wholeness in Himself.

Memory Verse: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 NIV

About the Author

My name is Heather Kenny and I love investing in people! Though I started out working as a registered nurse in cardiac care for almost 15 years, God has steered me into several different directions since then. His plan included years in children's ministry and eventually leadership development in local churches, a gig as a church consultant, and currently I co-own/manage a beach club in Placencia, Belize! My husband and I have been married for almost 24 years. Our older son is in the Air Force, and our younger son lives with us here in a little wooden house on the beautiful beach of Belize. I try to capture some of the lessons God is teaching me through my blog, www.leadingfromthedeepend.com.