BROKEN YET USEFUL
We are all familiar with the idea of planned obsolescence in product design where devices running on expired or older operating systems (OS) can begin to malfunction. In the same way, people can experience brokenness as a result of their struggle to process new realities and problems with an OS that needs an update.
At a time when COVID-19 is shaking up industries, economies, and livelihoods, many people are putting in great efforts to keep their habits intact and run their lives the same way as before while pining for the old normalcy to return.
If our phones are capable of getting notifications of OS updates from God, it would be this alert from Isaiah 43:19: ‘See, I am doing a new thing!’ With a little imagination, we can also infer from 2 Corinthians 5:17 - ‘if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come’ – and say that God’s new OS version is now available for download. At the same time, we can draw on the context of 2 Corinthians 4:16 – ‘Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day’ - to emphasize that our hardware (physical life) requires daily OS update (spiritual renewal). Both the hardware and OS are important because God cares about them.
Are you facing something in your life that is so difficult and disheartening that you are ready to throw in the towel? Don’t give up yet! Broken hearts, broken dreams, broken relationships, broken communication, and broken trust all need our attention because they don’t become useless when they are broken. You could be running an outdated OS that is inadequate for tackling the current issue at hand.
But how do we troubleshoot our existing OS and access God’s redemptive OS?
We acknowledge our sinful nature. It starts with acknowledging our fallen nature and that our capacity and resources are limited for tackling all of life’s challenges without God. In addition, when we respond inappropriately in ways we are not designed to function and sin, we hurt our bodies and our souls. And here is another reality, we hurt others around us too.
We recognize our dependence on God. This takes us back to God, the Creator of mankind, in the same way, that we bring our mobile devices and equipment back to the manufacturer. As our Heavenly Father, He goes beyond giving us a temporary fix to restore us fully and wholly.
We become a strength to others. Our lives are constantly evolving with new situations and challenges that demand new capabilities for overcoming them. We augment our faith and become a voice of strength and hope to others when we consciously harness God’s power for effective living.
Notice what Jesus did when He approached a marginalized woman at the well in Samaria and spoke with her: He empowered her with a voice that she used in her community.
“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
John 4:29
Know that human lives are fragile hardware that is breakable but also restorable. 2 Corinthians 4:7-8 describes it this way: ‘But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.’
Our brokenness is a signal that we need God to examine and trouble-shoot our existing frame of reference so that we can experience progress and breakthrough. Let’s offer the broken pieces of our lives to Him and let Him use it for His glory and purpose!
