Broken
To be spiritually broken, what's that like? In the old testament extreme brokenness was represented with torn robes, sack cloth, and ashes. That doesn't sound very comfortable, and not easy to hide. That was the point, right? Not to be comfortable but to reflect the pain and grief felt on the inside, outwardly. That way everyone could see how broken a person really was. (Example: 2 Kings 19:1)
It stands as a far cry from today. When we are broken, even over good and Godly things we pretend like everything is OK. We go on like our broken state is just an inconvenience. Wipe those tears away, we don't have time to have a contrite heart, we don't want to answer when someone ask what's wrong. Because our fear is that if we answered, my heart aches for those that have no hope, aches for those who are lost, those being sold into slavery, those who's lives we can never seem to touch no matter how hard we try. That would be too much to tell anyone and they wouldn't want to hear it.
That kind of truth is heavy. Too heavy for most people to hear. And so the shades go on over the puffy eyes, the walls go back up, and we hide our brokenness from the world. It's OK to be broken. And while I don't see many folks running around in sack cloths anymore, we could all use a heart dose of being laid bare every now and then, and sharing that heart with others.
Ps 51:17
