ALL Are Broken

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23

Hello readers.  Welcome to my heart.  Let's begin. 

I'll start out by saying that this blog is specifically for the believers.  I had an interesting revelation about us.  Let's chat. 

So, I think a lot of us can get very settled in the truth that we were once lost but now we are found.  Now again, that is truth, definitely not denying that and it's definitely not a bad place to get settled.  But I think we can forget that just because we're playing for Team Jesus, that doesn't exclude us from possible injury during play.  Here's the story. 

So, like I said, I had an interesting revelation last Friday night.  I was off on a Friday night after working an 11 hour shift at work.  I was in a neutral state of mind of not really wanting to do anything at all because I was exhausted, but I would if something fun jumped off.  So I ended up watching a fairly decent movie with 50 Cent as the lead actor playing a college football superstar who tragically gets a rare form of cancer.  And after the movie, I got the idea for some ice cream from Dairy Queen.  So I slipped into my flip flops and drove across town to the Dairy Queen.  I was on an uphill swing from a spiritual and emotional rut that I had been dealing with the entire week, so the comfort dessert was definitely going to do its duty of temporarily satisfying my issues. 

So as I turned into the Diary Queen, I almost ran over this homeless lady that was walking across the poorly lit entrance.  But, this was a special homeless lady--- because I had been seeing this homeless lady in random places almost regulary for the last few weeks.  And by random, I mean I was doing something I normally don't do and in places I am usually not at----and there she would be, continuing to be in my path.  And here she was again, in my path!

"God, what are you trying to tell me?  I never like to over spiritualize things but come on, this is crazy.  I'm all the way across town, how could she possibly have walked way out here?"

And I felt that, ya know, that heart pluck of doing something for her.  But again, I pushed it to the side like I had been doing every time I saw her.  But this time, my heart broke. Tears starting to drip from my eyes and I let out this deep groan of frustration at myself and my lack of faith and lack of balls or whatever it is that keeps me from acting on my heart for people.

"God, I don't know what to say to her!  I don't want to buy her some ice cream, that'll do nothing for her!  I don't know what to say, or do, so, just whatever!"  I wiped my eyes so I could order my Reese's Cup Blizzard and not look like a punk at the drive-thru window.  And so as I was leaving, I began to condemn myself for my lack of compassion and love and passion for God's lost children.  I groaned at my inability to have enough gumption to just make the initial contact and trust that God will give me what to say or do.  I groaned at the countless times I have continually ignored the opportunity to share with one of God's broken children that He still loves them and has an eternal hope for them..........

And then it hit me. 

As the idea of her being broken compelled me to want to point her to Jesus, I realized that I hadn't even been doing that for myself the entire week.  So, let's say generally, a bad week for a believer is when Satan has done a great job of getting us to believe a lie.  Or life has decided to smack us in the face or things aren't going the way we planned, whatever the case may be.  But in my case, I was just frustrated with the daily fights and struggles of life, or more so now that I think about it, I was just elevating things that aren't even an ultimate gain.  But specifically, what I saw from myself the entire week was a guy responding to his hopelessness and his brokenness and his insecurities by pursuing empty things and empty gains and empty passions, and in that moment, I was just like that homeless lady.  In that moment, I was just another broken human being.  In that moment, I was just another person that falls short.  In that moment, I was just another human that was experiencing and responding to the symptoms of a fallen world because of sin. 

In that moment, I was just like her----broken. 

And the illustration that comes to my mind is a junkyard, where everything in it is broken or worn out or torn apart.  Some things may be broken by just being chipped or warped on a corner is burnt off, and other things are shattered and unrecognizable.  But overall, it's all still in the junkyard.  It's all still broken. 

This is why we are to share the hope of Jesus with others, but also be ready to share it with ourselves.  Especially since we know that we've all fallen short because of the slow destruction of sin on our hearts which is causing us to be broken.  And if you don't know the next verse after Romans 3:23, here's verse 24. 

and ALL are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:24

ALL are broken, but ALL are justified---meaning ALL are loved.

So let's be honest here.  The gospel isn't just for unbelievers.  It's for believers as well.  Just like I wanted to share with that woman the hope that is in Jesus, I was needing to realize that truth as well instead of pursuing those empty gains.  So as a believer, I should rest my hope in what I wanted to share with her.  So I'm sure we can conclude that the gospel is for unbelievers and believers.  It's for the unbeliever as to offer them to put their faith in Him, and the believer to continue to regurgitate it whenever they need Him---just for a reminder.  And sometimes we need to be reminded.....

that we are ALL broken.