ENCOURAGED in Every Season: Nestle in Close to Jesus, Embracing this Season of Brokenness (Part 3 of 12)

In this ENCOURAGED series, I am passionate about you knowing your Faithful God in every season of your life. As you seek Jesus daily, I desire you to grow in your faith and relationship with Him so you can joyfully embrace Him as your true Encourager and proclaim His faithfulness to others. I pray that you would hold on to the hope and peace found only in Christ and learn how to embrace whatever season you are presently in your life, bringing glory to Him.   

Continuing with the ENCOURAGED acrostic, the second practical way to be encouraged is to:

N~NESTLE IN CLOSE TO JESUS, EMBRACING THIS SEASON OF BROKENNESS

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

Seasons of brokenness are the most difficult of seasons. However, these pruning seasons often prove to be the most fruitful and productive of them all. Our seasons of suffering produce rich, fertile soil for faith growth. As the soil of our hearts is tilled, awareness of God’s Presence and His working become evident in our lives. During these times, seeds of faith take root and grow.

In order to glean the fruitfulness of this season, learning to embrace this time—although heart-wrenching and difficult at times—is a key essential for growth. Oftentimes, we are tempted to shrink back from these seasons of suffering. However, God is purposefully cultivating a beautiful tenderness in our hearts for the promises in His Word and a compassion toward others during these seasons of brokenness, and we must nestle in close to Jesus, learning to embrace these times.   

These moments represent the seasons of our lives that we often want to forget, set aside and disregard as having no part in our life stories. These are the pieces of our lives that are broken and flawed, seemingly unusable, unredeemable, insignificant, and of no value.

However, these weathered and worn remnants of our life stories after the storm—the losses, heartaches, trials, disappointments, past hurts, regrets, pain, and suffering—are our stories! These crushed pieces—wanted or not—beautifully characterize who we are and bear witness of what we have experienced. Here—in these seasons of brokenness—is where our Lord Jesus, our God of all comfort and grace, so faithfully shows up every time.

Somehow, Jesus tenderly takes these times of imperfection and weakness—times when we are crippled and crushed in spirit—and makes them new, redeemable, significant, and profound. These past moments within seasons of brokenness—our back stories—become the strength behind our testimonies, swinging open the door of encouragement to others. 

Look back in your own life at the seasons of your greatest trials and suffering, and then recall what the Lord did for you in each of those circumstances. Remember His past faithfulness to you and the beautiful fruit and growth He produced. Recount how He tenderly carried you and lovingly bound up your wounds. Those seasons of brokenness were never meant to break you, but to heal you.

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

The seasons of brokenness teach us to live by faith. When we step into these seasons of brokenness, we behold a glimpse of His glory shining through the broken pieces of our lives. In seasons of brokenness, He holds us ever-so close as we lean in to Him in complete surrender and dependence. God’s sovereignty works and toils in and through the brokenness and suffering, cultivating something beautiful.

In seasons of brokenness, things take root—either productive or destructive. We must be prepared to guard our hearts against what seeds we allow to take root. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). As the soil of our hearts is broken and tender, seeds can be planted. Seeds of faith can be planted and the eternal Truths of God’s Word can take root. A beautiful harvest of faith, hope, perspective, wisdom, discernment, peace, and joy is cultivated. As we sow seeds of hope in Christ amidst our seasons of brokenness, we will reap a harvest of joy. Exposing our hearts to the light of His Word grows our seeds of faith and plants His Word deep in our hearts. 

“Humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you.” James 1:21

On the other hand, without an acute awareness of God’s Word and His Presence, seeds of deception–bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, envy, jealousy, fear, and unbelief–settle into your soil, hardening your heart and dividing your mind from the life-giving Truths and promises of God’s Word. Weeds of doubt and anxiety choke out the potential for growth and fruitfulness, wasting away this time of nearness and tenderness of His Presence and care. As we humbly turn from this sin and trusting in self to Jesus, He tends to these hidden areas through the Truth found in His Word, exposing and uprooting them.

Will you allow Jesus to re-till the land of your hard, broken places? Will you allow Him to make something fruitful of what seemed so unredeemable? Jesus came for this very purpose—to redeem the unredeemable. He desires to do something new in our broken places. Whispering to our hearts is the invitation to join Him in this process. I am doing something new in your broken places. Will you let Me?

 “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

As we invite Jesus—our tender Healer and Deliverer—into the hurt and wounded places of our lives, we will truly experience the healing touch of our Savior who brings complete healing and wholeness to our broken pieces making us oaks of righteousness—strong and persevering—a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor and glory.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom from the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” Isaiah 61:1,3

“Certainly God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” Genesis 42:52