By Shannon Dittemore
Brielle Matthews is in pain and her life is shattered. When her Advanced Photography teacher Mr. Burns tells her, "It's okay to be broken." Brielle wonders how being broken could ever be okay. (pg 43)
This got me to thinking what do we mean when we say someone is broken. What does broken mean? And what does the Bible say about broken people?
When one looks at the Webster Dictionary the definition simply put is damaged or altered; forcibly separated into many pieces; made weak or infirm; or cut off.
But God sees the broken people who live throughout His creation and he wants to turn them into the antonym of broken. God has fixed, mended, healed, and rebuilt the broken people if we let Him. The choice is ours.
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (NIV)
Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (NIV)
I Timothy 6:10 Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows. (GNT)
Romans 11:20 That is true. They were broken off because they did not believe, while you remain in place because you do believe. But do not be proud of it; instead, be afraid. (GNT)
When we are broken God is waiting with His arms wide open willing to make us whole. Sin has cut us off from God. Sin broke our union with God, but God was not satisfied with the brokenness that marred His creation and separated us from Him. God broke Himself for us. He died from us. He took all our pain on Himself to restore us. Through His brokenness He healed ours.
In conjunction with this CSFF tour I was provided a copy of this book for the purpose of this review.
Links to check-out:
Author Website ~ Shannon's Facebook page ~ Amazon ~ CBD ~ Barnes and Noble
Be sure to check out all the stops over the next 3 days as Angel Eyes is fully explored by the following CSFF tour members.
Gillian Adams Julie Bihn Beckie Burnham Theresa Dunlap Nikole Hahn Jeremy Harder
Jason Joyner Carol Keen Emileigh Latham Shannon McDermott Rebecca LuElla Miller
Anna Mittower Faye Oygard Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Jessica Thomas
Rachel Starr Thomson Steve Trower Dona Watson Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler
Thanks for your thoughts on brokenness. I was hoping the author would expand a little more on this subject. Maybe more from the next book -- Broken Wings.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog! :) I like that you took a deeper, more spiritual approach to your review.
ReplyDeleteI liked that line so much I highlighted it on my Kindle version! Then abandoned it as far as reviewing goes, since it was really a one-off line as far as I could tell, with no follow-through. Ah well.
ReplyDeleteI think God loves the broken because when we're broken, our accomplishments must be through Him. When everything's going fine and we seem capable, then it's harder for God to really work through us. I think, anyway.
Good thoughts, Meagan! And also good thinking, Beckie, that the brokenness could come up in the next book.
I think Dittemore does a wonderful job of showing brokenness through the eyes of the character, but giving the character winsome qualities too--so we care what happens to her.
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