Made to Be Broken

Recently a newfangled telephone was released with every option, tone, color, and button imaginable. The only problem - the reception when making a call was worse than any other telephone on the market.

Another exorbitantly expensive telephone offers calendars, email, address books, Internet, games, and scads of applications, yet technicians cannot figure out how to silence it when emails are delivered ... even when the phone is supposedly turned off. This device makes a loud, annoying interruptive "tone" every time correspondence is received.

A beautiful, sleek, attractive car is released. The only problem - the gas pedal sticks ... sometimes.

A lovely, navy blue and cream plaid ice bag claims to be "the best remedy for headaches - just like the Brits use". The only problem - it leaks near freezing cold water onto the broken or hurting body part, all surrounding clothes, nearby pillows, and furniture the first time it is used.

A round doughnut-shaped, ergonomic pillow, filled with microbeads is touted as having the ability to be molded into any possible pillow shape imaginable. The only problem - none of the shapes match any human body part I have ever seen.

A creative, innovative friend hired a professional crew to orchestrate a Batman-like flight across a church sanctuary for Vacation Bible School. The only problem - the zip line's construction, flexibility, and weight capacity caused a crash into stairs, rendering Batman unconscious, with broken bones.

In every one of these instances, the manufacturer knew the products were broken before they were put on the market. They were literally made to be broken.

Are we not similar? We were created with a freewill component, and our brokenness manifested itself blatantly in Adam and Eve's original sin. This first man and this woman each chose to be disobedient to the Creator's instructions.

How then is our made to be broken situation dissimilar?

Our Creator loved us so much and knew us so perfectly that He planned the solution even before the brokenness occurred. In our Lord's mercy, grace, love, and ultimate act of forgiveness, He provided His precious, beloved Son, Jesus Christ, as the once-and-for-all satisfaction; i.e., the solution to our sin debt.

Without this brokenness, would we ever have come to appreciate God so fully? Would we have come to know Him so intimately? From the very beginning, His purpose and design were for us to be in close relationship with Him ... forever.

"You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart,

O God, you will not despise."

Psalm 51:16-17

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:7-9

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us." 1 John 3:16a

Father, I praise you and thank you for creating me with the capacity for brokenness. I am not sure whether I would have come to adore you otherwise. Your mercy never ceases to astound me. That Jesus loved me so much that He voluntarily laid down His life for me is almost beyond all comprehension. Thank you! Amen.