“I am ignored as if I were dead, as if I were a broken pot.” (Psalm 31:12 NLT)
Realizing there are lots of ways to think about brokenness, let me try to give a clearer understanding of what I mean, at least for purposes of this post. But before I do that, just to make sure you didn’t miss it, the title is “Who’s ‘Broken,’” not “What’s Broken.” Also, David’s words in the verse above give expression to something I often miss.
There are people who seem, at least from the standpoint of the casual observer, to have everything together. They’re happy, confident, and seem to be living the proverbial “dream” life, but they don’t know Jesus. It’s sometimes difficult to know how to approach them because too often in our minds, people who don’t know Jesus aren’t supposed to be happy and content.
My goal in this post is to help us sharpen our vision and to understand that ANYONE without Jesus, regardless of their socio-economic position, religious bias, or contentment with the things of this world, is spiritually broken. Yet, too often, we fail to see through their seeming togetherness and are too afraid or unsure how to speak with them about their need of Jesus.
As Jesus followers, it’s sometimes hard to wrap our minds around the fact that someone can be happy, content, and on many levels, satisfied with their life. It’s easier for us to think of someone without Jesus being desperate or at least more clearly “broken.” We’re almost tempted to pray they’ll have some problem so we can rush in with Jesus.
My guess is that’s what prompted King David to write the words above. Based on what he wrote in Psalm 31 he had many needs, yet it’s as if no one noticed or seemed to care. He was “invisible,” yet longed to be seen. My position in this post is that too often we let that happen with those in our spheres of influence.
In my mind there’s no greater brokenness than being lost, and too often those who aren’t walking with Jesus are on a collision course with disaster, but just don’t know it. So, how do we address that, especially in the lives of those for whom we carry a deep burden? They seem oblivious to the danger they’re in, living as if this life is going to last forever. It’s like they’re driving in a dense fog at 100 mph. They don’t know what they don’t know.
It kills me to think of being in heaven without my kids or those relatives and friends I love and for whom I carry a deep burden. We can’t make them change their mind, so what can we do? There are at least six things.
First and foremost, we must pray. Prayer taps the only resource we have – our Heavenly Father – who knows and loves those for whom we pray more than we do. He has 24/7 access to their heart and His Spirit can work in ways we never can. We must bare our heart before Him, seeking ways to be His voice, His hands, His feet, His heart to and for those we want to see come to Jesus.
Secondly, we must listen carefully to what He instructs us to do or not do.
Thirdly, we must obey quickly and with attention to detail. We may only have one shot at sharing Jesus, we need to get it right.
We’ll look at the other three in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 