Two days ago, I was in a store that I frequent at least weekly. I’m very familiar with the people who work there. Usually our conversations are merely fleeting chit chat. But this time was different.
As I passed one of the employees I gave her my familiar “hello”. But I could see in her eyes that when I asked her how she was, she was NOT, as she said, “okay”. The lump in her throat was audible and the tears that welled in her eyes betrayed her attempt at being brave. This sweet woman was hurting.
I didn’t know what she was going through. In the middle of the aisle was not the environment to find that out. But I could do something.
I put my arms out to her and invited her in. She came immediately and gratefully, almost melting into my embrace. She stayed there for several moments, tearfully thanking me for such a simple gesture. I would have loved to have stayed there with her and heard her heart but it wasn’t what the time or place allowed. I was forced to give her one more squeeze and send her back to the task at hand.
This past week has been full of hurting people. People whom I love dearly. My words, like that hug in the store, do not feel like enough. I cannot change their situation. I can’t heal their pain. Thankfully, I know Someone who can do both.
We are all broken in various ways. Sometimes it takes the pain of our broken edges to remind us that we are in need of healing.
I love that our brokenness is why Jesus came to earth. He said it Himself – He didn’t come to “save the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). And in Mark 2:17- On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Though sometimes our brokenness surprises us, it doesn’t surprise Jesus at all. He knows well our plight and need. He didn’t come to condemn us for our brokenness but to heal it. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
I hope that I get to talk more in depth with the girl at the store. I hope that I can help carry the load of sorrow that those around me are feeling right now. But I KNOW that Jesus has not only the desire but the ability to heal their pain. To take what they know and see now and turn it into something more beautiful than they can imagine. His only motivation? Love. “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16)
In the meantime, I will hug when there are no words and I will love. And I will watch in amazement as Jesus does His thing…healing the brokenhearted….
