This was in my inbox from Women of Faith. Very touching for those of us who struggle with depression, anxiety or any other other form of bondage; The Companionship of Brokenness Wednesday, November 6, 2013 by Sheila Walsh A few years ago I received a letter from a ministry leader asking if I would meet privately with his wife. He saw that I was to be in town to speak at a women’s event and wrote, “A group of women from my church will attend, but my wife is not one of them. She is struggling with great sadness from her past that weighs her down.” He told me that she really believed that if anyone knew of her struggles, it would damage his reputation and hurt his ministry. He clearly did not believe that, but felt powerless to convince her. I arranged for a private meeting room and said that if she would be willing to meet, I would gladly visit with her. At first she wouldn’t even make eye contact with me, so I said, “You don’t have to tell me anything about your life. But I would love to tell you a little about mine.” I told her about the shame I had felt. I told her that I believed I had failed God and everyone else. I told her I had soaked the carpet with my tears, night after night after night. I told her I believed the darkness would never lift and that I had prayed to die. And I told her about the hope I had found. I told her that I still take medication, and every morning I take that little pill with a prayer of thanksgiving that God had made a way for those of us who suffer like this on such a broken planet. And I told her that in the darkest moment of my life, I discovered that God lives very close to the floor, very near to those who are broken. For as long as I live, I will never forget the look in her eyes as she finally lifted her gaze from the floor to my face. It is no coincidence that God placed our tear ducts in our eyes! Pain should be seen. With tears pouring down her cheeks, she fell into my arms and we wept for a long time. The time for words had passed. We found a depth of understanding, of companionship, that went above and beyond anything either one of us could say. I prayed for her before she left, and as she ran into her husband’s arms. She was on the road to healing, perhaps not shedding her affliction but feeling God’s acceptance in the midst of it. It is a beautiful gift of grace to serve in our brokenness. Not everyone understands this. Not everyone is willing to be broken. But when you are broken in the hands of the Master, you would never, ever go back to living the illusion that you are, in your own strength, “whole.”
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 17:39:54 +0000
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