The Broken Soul
Do you ever feel like your soul is just broke? Not your body - even though I am learning the hard way that stress can do a number on our bodies! (Working on a workbook for caregivers with ideas to reduce stress!) But it's not our bodies that worry us most of the time. It's our souls - our mind, will, and emotions.
It would be easier if we had a broken arm. There would be x-rays, diagnosis, and casting. Buy a soul is a lot harder to put a cast on. And add to that the fact that the pain and hurt are recurring day after day - it doesn't give a lot of room for healing. But I do think God can bring at least a level of healing in the middle of our pain.
The Bible is full of broken souls. My mind went first to David. Samuel, the prophet told David's father, Jesse, to bring all of his sons to the dinner. When none of them were picked by God to be the next king, Samuel had to ask, are these all of your sons, Jesse? The answer was no - David was out keeping the sheep. That has to be the ultimate rejection - to not even be invited to a family dinner. (1 Samuel 16)
Secondly, I went to Joseph. The stark admission of his brothers in Genesis 42:21 gives us a glimpse at Joseph's broken soul and the callousness of his brothers. This has happened because of what we did long ago. WE SAW his terror and anguish and HEARD his pleadings, but we didn't listen. What a horrible sight to have stuck in your head for all those years. None of them came to a point of repentance? Not even after they saw their father's broken soul?
Joseph and David are just two examples of people who experienced a broken soul. David is able to express some of it throughout the psalms. Psalm 13, for example. In Psalm 27:10, he even said, when my father and mother forsake me - God will take me up. He certainly knew what it meant to be broken and faced brokenness along the way to the palace. But he also said in Psalm 34:18 - God is near the brokenhearted.
Even for our Bible heroes, God didn't allow them to skip the adversity. Instead, He met them in it. He crawled right up beside Joseph in the dark, dank cell. He was with David in the backside of the wilderness keeping sheep all the way to the cave he hid himself in from Saul.
We can trust that God is with us too.
Today, I will remind myself that God is right here in my caregiver cave. He doesn't get scared or run away from my pain. He gets it. There's no condemnation - He just sits with us and stays close to our broken souls. I will meditate on His nearness and the healing that it brings deep in my soul. When I feel the most broken, I will remind myself that He is here in my brokenness - He's not afraid of it. I will trust Him to bring comfort, peace, and direction right here in my circumstances as I trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?
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Affirmations for Caregivers
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