Songs That Make Me Switch Stations

I absolutely cannot listen to Mercy Me’s  All of Creation. And it’s because of the keyboard. Such a silly reason to dislike a song, but seriously, I find it so annoying that  I hit the button every time it comes on. It’s too bad cuz it might have great lyrics.  I just never stick around long enough to listen to them.

And then there’s this song called “He Said.” It drives me nuts because He didn’t say what the song says He said.  Here’s the chorus.

I won’t give you more, more than you can take
and I might let you bend, but I won’t let you break
and No, I’ll never ever let you go
Don’t you forget what He said

“I might let you bend, but I won’t let you break?” Where in scripture does God tell us He won’t let us break? Maybe it’s just a matter of semantics but these lyrics irk me to no end. Seriously.  I. have. been. broken. Haven’t you?

The idea of bending gives me the sense that when tough things happen life will naturally just bounce back to what it was before. You know, like memory foam or something. You lay on it or squish it and then walk away and walah, back to it’s “normal” shape. That is not the way life works.

I believe that God not only lets us break, but there are times in our lives He has called us to be broken.  And when He heals us, we are not the same.

We don’t “bounce back.”

We change.

I broke my arm when I was four. It was a compound fracture and the bone actually came out and hit the dirt. Gross, I know. Well, 2 surgeries, 7 days in a hospital, 4 months in a cast and 33 years later, I still have a giant scar on my left arm. It is a part of who I am. My arm is not the same as it was before it was broken, and that scar will remain until my soul takes residence in my glorified body in heaven. That is a picture of what  God does. He lets you break sometimes, but he doesn’t leave you broken. If you allow Him to, He will heal your broken parts and leave you changed.

Being broken sucks. The healing process pretty much sucks too. But when you take your brokenness to the Healer, you can rest in the knowledge that one day you will make it to the other side. And you will be different. Not bent. Not broken. Beautifully transformed.

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

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

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

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,