Many Broken

I woke up this morning with this feeling of "not-right-ness." Do you ever have days like that? Even before you can explain why, you can tell something isn't right. All morning was frustrating... I couldn't find things, I dropped things, it took me hours to do what normally would take a short time, I got bad news and warnings and cancellations and red lights. Plus, it is cold again outside, rainy, windy, and the city is flooded. Nothing was right.

At lunch time, Brie came home and when I started to tell her about my day, she said, "Connie, the world is not right today." She directed me to the news from Watertown today, which I had been to preoccupied to notice. And I remembered that our ministry partner has gone home today to visit a good friend who is dying of cancer - a young man my age who has a wife and two small children, and whose ministry is having a huge impact on the world. My not-right day extends far beyond the walls of my little Hobbit Hole.

Meng Pu came over just a little while ago, and as he began to talk about our last Bible lesson, I realized I wasn't understanding anything he said - not a word. My heart was too heavy to be able to listen, and I nearly cried. Instead, I prayed for God to help me listen and understand something. Then, with sad eyes, I heard Meng Pu say, "Many broken..." He spoke of the world, people, death, violence, earthquakes... he said God will come soon, and fix all that is broken. Apparently, he felt the not-right-ness of today, too.

Many things are broken in this world, and we can feel it. As this world falls apart and dies, it is heartbreaking to witness and experience the pain. But the heaviness and the not-right-ness is supposed to chafe at our spirit, to remind us that this is not all there is - this is not what we live for or hope in. One day Jesus will return, and he will put things right again, as it was meant to be from the beginning. Trust in him, place your hope in him, and he will give you grace and courage to walk through the brokenness until it is restored.