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A Tender Chain Breaker

Yesterday, while I was out on a run, I had some music playing. I don't recall which artist or song it was but at some point in the song it referred to God as the "chain breaker." I have a very vivid imagination, and I could see His huge, very strong hands breaking a thick chain. For a little bit, I thought about the strength it would take for hands to break chains. But then another pictorial thought entered my mind.

I thought of these two same huge, strong hands. But instead of a display of raw strength, it was with great tenderness they picked up the pieces of my broken heart. The contrasting image moved me in a strange way. God is big enough and bad enough (even without our help) to break off the chains that bind us. In one motion, He can crush them with His powerful hands and set our hearts and souls free from bondage.

Yet at the same time, His strong hands can tenderly, gingerly, with compassion and love, pick up the pieces of a broken heart to bring comfort and peace. In Psalm 34:18, David says the Lord is near those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. I found all this very comforting this morning.

I'm glad He doesn't look at our brokenness with disdain. He doesn't say - you are too messed up for me to help. He tenderly, in His strength, gathers up our brokenness and speaks peace, grace, and healing to every single part. This is a great comfort to me as it's easy for caregivers to feel like they are living a life of shards with no complete pieces. There's not always a social outlet and we can become captives in our own minds. God can break that off even if we live in a caregiver's cave and minister to our hearts. If we let Him.

Today, I will focus on being moldable in His hands. My meditations will be on His tenderness toward us and how He cares about all the broken pieces we call "life." He's not scared of it. He won't run away. He's walking through the fire with us. My thoughts will turn into thankful ones as I meditate on His faithfulness and His tenderness and love. And then - I will trust Him for one more day - will you join me?
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