Broken Spirit

 

    Today is a glorious and fun day for so many women to be celebrated for doing what they love.  For other women, it is a difficult day.  Maybe you lost your mom.  Maybe your dream was to be a mom and it never happened.  Maybe you are alone and you feel it acutely.  Holidays are always mixed with the joyful and the broken spirit.  The trick is finding a way to celebrate the women that are moms without hurting those that are feeling broken.

    This theme goes well with where Job is at emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  He is broken and he had turned to his friends for comfort, but they only brought judgment.  When a person is broken, it is not the time to tell them how they had disappointed you, hurt you, get even, or judge.  It could push them to dangerous places.  Grievances should be address, but in the right time and the right way.

    Job felt broken because he felt like he had nothing left in life.  It is hard not question God during times like this.  It is a good time to work out your salvation: what you really believe.  It is a horrible place to be, but you can try to find purpose.  It is better than sitting down and just waiting to die or turning your back on God.

    Job could not see a future to look forward to experiencing.  When a person looses purpose, then depression is inevitable.  Job was done with trying to be transparent with his friends and now was turning to God.  He wanted an audience with God.  He wanted answers for why he was an object of scorn.  

    Job was ready for death, but it was not his time.  I think if he had gotten to talk to God that the answer would not of eased his broken spirit in that moment.  The truth is that sometimes God does things that we feel are unfair, unloving, or unjust because the human perspective is tainted by the world we live in.  It is like looking at life through a dirty window, but thinking that is how it is supposed to be.  God's window is so clear that you would not think that there was a window.  His perspective is truth.

    Today, celebrate mothers, but be sensitive to those around you that are hurting.  Ask them to sit with you at church or join your family gathering.  Pray over them and do as the Holy Spirit guides you.

Job 17