Change is hard.
The oldest kiddo I watch during the week is 13, and she just found out that one of her dearest friends is moving away.
She was devastated.
I can relate. When I was her age, by very best friend moved away too.
I remember feeling as though a rug was ripped out from under me. I had gotten so comfortable, so used to her companionship that I never even considered the possibility that she wouldn’t always be there.
Fast forward a few years to high school.
I had been dating the same boy for 3 years and naively thought we would “be together forever.” I found out in a less than perfect way that he had moved on, and again, felt as though my very foundation had been torn out from under me. My world was upside down and in pieces. Also in those high school years all of my grandparents passed away, leaving me reeling emotionally. Just as I would finally get my footing, everything and everyone near and dear to me was seemingly torn away.
Change is hard.
Change is harder when your foundation is built on sand.
I grew up believing in God and knowing He was there. I went to church. I prayed. I was active in youth group.
But it wasn’t until everything was torn away that I realized that, although my foundation seemed solid, it was built upon sand – relying on people instead of God, creating my identity in guys instead of in Christ, holding on to things of this world instead of things that truly last.
Brokeness was the only way to bring restoration.
My dad and some other local guys are rebuilding the foundation of an old barn. Because the foundation was cracking and crumbling, it was causing the seemingly sturdy barn to bow and lean. The barn had to be lifted up and the old foundation removed. There were good elements that were able to be saved, but the old foundation had to be broken up and hauled out in order to make room for new, solid ground and a new, strong foundation.
We are just like that barn.
If our foundation is cracked and crumbling, we will start to bow to pressures and lean in the wrong directions.
Sometimes we have to be broken up and pieces of our lives hauled out in order to be able to stand firm.
Sometimes we have to have everything stripped away before we realize what we have.
Sometimes we have to be broken in order to become whole.
Change is hard, but change is never pointless. There is always a purpose in brokenness – a lesson, a way to become stronger.
Place your trust in the One who never fails, whose foundation never wavers, whose Word never faulters. Allow Him to use brokeness to bring restoration in your life.
Is there an area of your life that you feel God is working in? Are you kicking and screaming as He hauls away the pieces? I know I’ve been there! I challenge you (and me!) to release that area to God, to trust that He will bring restoration and healing in place of pain.
I’d love to hear about your experience with #brokeness. Share your story below – remember, we are all on this journey together!