“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” - Proverbs 17:22
I'm afraid of embracing a broken spirit.
Not the kind of broken spirit that is humbled before a holy God...but a broken spirit that is beat down and defeated by this and/or that. I can feel the danger within me brought on by a broken spirit. I’ve seen and still see the danger and destruction brought on by surrendering to a broken spirit. It dries things up. Dries up life. Dries up growth. Dries up joy.
A broken spirit leads to deep discontentment, easy frustration, growing bitterness, engorged pride, and heaps of worry...agents of destruction.
It's a real fight not to give into a broken spirit at times. When I feel a broken spirit rising within me I've had to take some time to analyze and find the root of my sadness or irritation. One hundred percent of the time it ends up being one of three things:
1. I'm not choosing to truly trust God in a particular area
2. I'm choosing not to be obedient in a particular area,
3. or I'm not choosing to partake in the joy in Christ that is mine.
Spending time with Jesus…praying, reflecting, remembering, reading, abiding, confessing, praising…is the only way to a truly joyful heart because that joy is based on something not of this world. It's humbling to realize and admit that sometimes I want to relieve my broken spirit with things I love about this world...like music, writing, my wife, or friends…and sometimes I run to things I hate about this world such as any distraction, busyness, or sin…but none of them are able to relieve my spirit. They don't provide me the kind of joy that is medicine for my soul. In fact, running to them only ends up causing more irritation to my spirit because I'm demanding and wanting from them more than they are capable of giving.
It is medicine to my soul to remember Christ. To remember all that He has done…and dream about all that He will do. To reflect on all that He has given already. To trust Him with all my concerns, worries, and frustrations. To truly let them go. To confess my known failures and rest assured knowing that He will lovingly discipline me and help me remove unknown sin in the future. To learn from His Word. To praise and thank Him for His great love that is beyond all that I could ever hope for.
When my base joy is in Christ, all other joys flourish.
I experience moments of an abundant life. I get a taste of how things were maybe supposed to be...and of how things will one day be.
We all wrestle with a broken spirit. Even the world is doing all they can to avoid and/or medicate their own broken spirits. As believers, we have a joy in Christ that is good medicine for our spirits. Let's work together to take advantage of the abundancwe have in Jesus.
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