Broken For Building

A simple “hey how are you feeling today” was all it took for me to start crying. The poor woman must have thought I was crazy that day because she was probably simply making small talk. But I was literally being held together by strings and they could no longer keep me looking like I had it all together.

Have you ever tried holding your life (and maybe the life of others) together while quietly falling apart? If you’ve been there, you know it’s not pretty. One wrong look or word can send you over the edge, can have you saying and feeling things you thought you had outgrown.

Maybe you are overwhelmed by too many problems that need your attention. Maybe the children are not doing what they should be doing or maybe you are doing everything, but feeling like nothing is improving.  Maybe there seems to be attacks on every side. It’s hard to hold anything together if your foundation is not solid. It’s difficult to be a rock for others when you have no rock for yourself. 

The good news is that you don’t have to hold it all together on your own. I’ll say it again for those who missed it: You don’t have to hold it together on your own. When we are weak, tired and frustrated, we have a God who is NOT any of those things. He is Jehovah Tsur – Our Strength, Our Rock. 

God reminds us that He knows every tear we cry (Psalm 56:8), so we can cry if we need to, ask Him questions if we need to, and pour out our hearts to Him whenever we need to. If we can draw strength and focus our energy into letting God build us up, we can have what we need to face the world that is falling apart.

1. Humble Yourself – Tell God You Need His Help. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that we are not God and letting God do the work that we cannot do.
2. Spend Time in God’s Presence – We often times look to people to fill us up and pour into us but that never sustains and fully satisfies us.  We can only be filled by the Living Water, the Bread of Life. When we are running on empty and falling apart, we need to sit in God’s presence to be filled. We can read the Word, worship, pray, or maybe just sit quietly and see what He will say.
3. Protect Your Surroundings – Sometimes who and what we surround ourselves with during fragile times can either strengthen us or cause us to crumble. We should always be aware of who /what we are listening to, viewing

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  

Colossians 1:17

This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!

Hebrews 1:3a

Blessed be God, my mountain, who trains me to fight fair and well.

He’s the bedrock on which I stand, the castle in which I live,

my rescuing knight, The high crag where I run for dear life,

   while he lays my enemies low.                    

Psalm 144:1n(MSG)