Are You Broken?

“My sacrifice O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”  Psalm 51:17

Every year, in Great Britain, we hold Remembrance Sunday, when we honour those who have died for our freedom in the many wars our world has endured. I find the words of Jim Radford’s “The Shores of Normandy” so moving, as they tell his story of being a young galley boy among that amazing fleet that went to confront our enemies on the 6th June 1944. One verse says…

Now the Empire Larch was a deep-sea tug with a crew of thirty-three,
And I was just the galley-boy on my first trip to sea.
I little thought when I left home of the dreadful sights I’d see,
But I came to manhood on the day that I first saw Normandy.

He sings of men dying among the swirling tides of Normandy. And on that day, seeing the horrors of war as a 15 year old lad, he became a man. He saw the brokenness of the world in all its pain, sorrow and grief and it became a moment of transformation.

In many ways we all grow up to adulthood when we are touched by the brokenness of the world, and also when we travel through our own personal seasons of pain. At times we are broken through the cruelty of others, or through the pains of this world in sickness and death. Sometimes we break ourselves against the rocks of sin and shame. Whichever way it comes, most discover the pain of brokenness sooner or later.

Perhaps as you read this, you are broken, in pain, confused, overwhelmed, crushed.

The good news is, God is still with you. And God is still for you.

And there is life after brokenness.

Isaiah 57:15 says, “For this is what the high and lofty One says– he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is broken and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

To be broken means to be smashed, crushed, torn, shattered, crouched down. Is that you today?

King David was crushed by the shame and disillusionment of his own sin. He’d committed adultery, then had the woman’s husband killed. This special king, who was remarkably called a “man after God’s own heart” had failed, and failed hugely. He was broken, shattered, ruined – devastated by his own wickedness and selfishness.

But in Psalm 51, the song where he confesses his sin and pain, he draws to the end saying, “My sacrifice O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

I’m sure there had been times when he had brought God a more excited, passionate, glorious worship. But today, it was his brokenness that became his sacrifice. He gave God his crushed spirit, his torn emotions, his overwhelmed mind, his shattered heart. He turned his brokenness into a sacrifice of worship.

So, broken friend – God does not despise that tear soaked broken worship. In fact, He will receive it, and in return wash you with grace, mercy, healing and wholeness; a divine exchange – Beauty for ashes. Glory for suffering. Dancing for mourning.

Worship God with your brokenness today. Let him turn your brokenness into beauty. It may be the purest worship you’ve ever brought.

God Meets Me in My Brokenness. I bring every shattered piece before the One who restores. I declare that my wounds will not be wasted, and my pain will not define me. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). In His hands, what is broken becomes beautiful.

I trade despair for hope, ashes for beauty, and heaviness for praise (Isaiah 61:3). My breaking is not for destruction, but for transformation. Even in brokenness, I am chosen. Even in weakness, I am loved. Even in the crushing, I am being made new. I am clay in the Potter’s hands (Jeremiah 18:6), and He is shaping me for His glory.

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THE CHURCH HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
How is God innovating in this new era?

Saturday 24th May 2025

Jarrod and other guests will be teaching, dreaming and analysing the new innovations, prophecies, methods, dangers and harvest opportunities that have arisen since 2020

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