A Time of Brokenness
I'm not sure if you've noticed a trend in my blogs lately, but if not, I'll point it out to you. My family/household has been going through some trials the past few weeks. This morning, I settled on a name for this stretch of frustrating circumstances: the time of brokenness. Allow me to explain.
The air conditioning in our vehicle is broken.
The front blinker on our vehicle is broken.
Jason's phone is broken.
Jason's headphones are broken.
Our PC is broken.
Mitch's nail on his bad toe (which he is VERY protective of) is broken.
Our bank account in broken (aka, empty).
And most serious of all, our spirits are broken.
I'm not really sure which "breakdown" was the straw that broke the camel's back, but I do know that there's been a dark cloud hovering over our house for the past few weeks. It seems like every time we get ahead the slightest bit, something else breaks and has to be repaired. Jason's paychecks are spent before I can even deposit them, leaving no money to fix and/or replace everything that's broken. This leaves us struggling to make things work as they are -- driving back and forth with no air in 90+ degree weather, fighting with phones and computers to get them to perform the simplest of tasks, and so on. Frustrations are high. Spirits are low. And the bright light at the end of the tunnel seems to grow dimmer all the time. At this point, it seems like a small flashlight. . . a very small flashlight.
I didn't say all of that to make you feel sorry for me or to have you join my pity party. I promise that was not my intention. My goal in writing this post is to remind you of a timely lesson I was re-introduced to yesterday: Circumstances will change, but our song shouldn't! The source of our song should not be riches, fame, friendship or anything else of that nature. The source of our song should be Christ, and He never changes. So if He doesn't change, and He is the source of our song, then our song shouldn't change. When things are going well, it's easy to sing, "How Great Thou Art" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness", but you know what? Those songs are still true even when life is grim and we feel like we're going under for the last time.
No matter what we're going through today, God is always worthy of our praise. He longs to hear our song today. He wants to know that we'll trust Him no matter what. No matter the waves, no matter the fiery darts, no matter the growing storm, God is good and He has a plan. Yes, even in times of brokenness, God is loving, kind and merciful. We may not understand what He's doing, but we can certainly understand Who He is, for He's the same yesterday, today and forever.
I may have to sing through my tears, but that's okay. God doesn't mind my tears. (In fact, I'm sure He's used to them.) But the important thing is that by His grace and through His strength, I won't allow my circumstances to dictate my choice of song. God deserves the best I have to offer, and "Gloom, Despair and Agony On Me" just won't cut it!
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. - Psalm 69:30
P.S. - If God has laid it on your heart to help in some way, there are a couple of ways you can do that.
First off, you can pray for us that God will strengthen us and help us to stay faithful during this trial. Secondly, you can make a financial donation by simply clicking on the donate button in the left sidebar, under my book display. Any help would be appreciated, but first and foremost, follow the leading of the Lord. And thank you, in advance, for your help and prayers.