This past
week, while watching an interview with Rick Warren, he said words that pierced
my heart. He was being interviewed about the death of his son who had dealt
with depression almost his entire life and died from self-harm. Rick received
messages after his death from those whom his son had led to the Lord.
The quote
is this and hopefully, I have it as he
said it, “In God’s garden of grace, even broken trees bear fruit. And we are
all broken.”
We tend to think God can only use those that don’t have issues but who is that? We all have issues. We all have brokenness. Hopefully, we are in the process of God healing those things, but still, we press on.
Some of my
favorite verses in the Bible come from 1 Corinthians 1:26-30: “But God chose
the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of
the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the
despised things— and the things that are not— to nullify the things that are,
so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ
Jesus …” and from 2 Corinthians 12:9: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
The
apostle Paul is making it clear that when we feel weak for whatever reason, God
still chooses us, because in our weakness we lean on him. In our weakness, His
power is perfected.
This past Sunday at our church, we lit the candle of hope. It is the candle that reminds of Jesus' return in the fulfillment of prophecy. This candle burns to help us remember that God is true to His word and has never failed us and will never fail us.
And yet, this time of year can be especially
difficult for those who are dealing with sadness. Somehow, all the mirth and
partying can seem a sharp contrast to where we are if we’re dealing with grief
or depression, making it seem worse. And the enemy might crank up and say, “Hey,
look at you, you’re of no use to God.”
But that
is not true. Be reminded of Rick Warren’s words, “In God’s
garden of grace, even broken trees bear fruit. And we are all broken.” We cling
to the hope that comes from the Lord, one day, one hour, sometimes one minute
at a time.
There was a
time in my life, when I dealt with sadness and knew what it was like to walk
minute by minute in God’s hope, but I am here to tell you, God is faithful.
Friend, He
has not forgotten you. Choose hope. Sending love.