What do we do with broken things?

Throw it out? Store it? Attempt to use it? Mend it?


If someone took a quick inspection of my closets, basement, and garage, it would reveal an accumulation of broken things. Some people are obsessed with keeping such stuff--my late husband, in particular--in the event that it might be useful someday. On the other hand, I tend to be an impulsive thrower-outer especially if something is broken. It seems more trouble than it's worth to fix it.


The older we become, the more broken things of the spirit and emotions we accumulate. Such intangibles hurt even more than a broken arm. People move and places change. Landmarks disappear. Our roots are severed—parents are gone along with our childhood memories. When our children grow up and leave home, we feel that distance and time have broken off our branches.


Our roles in life change with the ever-circling years. Our self-worth and influence feel fractured. Can we afford to cry over such breaks? Is it worthwhile to waste today's priceless limited time gazing in the rear view mirror of yesterday?


Why should we apply band-aids to broken things of our past when God has brand new adventures available to us?


Broken things are space-wasters of the spirit that clutter our heart-garages and mental-attics. The Holy Spirit is the Great Motivator, the Eternal Prompter; He draws us, pushes us, and impels us to keep moving on to new things instead of hugging broken things. "Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; before they spring forth, I proclaim them to you" (Isaiah 42:9).


Sometimes the Lord deliberately severs our roots to pull us out of the hardened soil of the familiar that prevents us from stretching and growing to our full potential. As maturing Christians, let's not allow memories to become ponderous anchors for our life ships to hold us back from sailing over the wide ocean of what God has prepared for us.


When we leave a broken relationship behind, precious though it may have been—or painful—just over the horizon may be a surprising new relationship. A broken job or broken health may motivate us to unfold wings we've never tried before. Broken things are part of God's intensive care for us. He intends them for our good.


God's marching order regarding broken things is, "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13,14).