Broken Pieces

The Potsherd Gate aka the Dung Gate, what a great example to show the leaders how their actions damaged their relationship with God. Potsherds, broken pottery is rather useless. Job did find a use when he was covered with boils by using the sharpness of a piece to scrape open the boils so the puss can drain. Otherwise, potsherds are trash thrown out and discarded with the animal waste.

Sometimes our hearts feel like what is outside of the Potsherd Gate. Broken, shattered, even as though covered in poo. We feel useless, unwanted, and lay there wallowing in self-pity. Other broken people with their sharp words have broken or trampled is into the ground. Circumstances failing to go as planned due to some unforeseen glitch leaves you feeling incapable and worthless.

You are not the only one that has ever felt like that. The whole story in Jeremiah 19, God is expressing how He feels because Judah has failed to keep the promise that their forefathers made when God brought them out of Egypt. The forefathers failed to do exactly what God told them to do and allowed outside influences stay around which eventually corrupted the generation in Jeremiah. God’s plan is ruined because the people are corrupt and the sin has led them away from following Him. OR is it? God saw this happen long before the world was created. He still has a plan.

Because God has experienced things like this He understands what we are going through. In Psalms 34:18, David wrote, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” ESV.  He hurts when we hurt because He has been broken too. When Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2 ESV,

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,

He announced that the prophecy was fulfilled in there presence, referring to Himself. They all knew Isaiah 61 was about the Messiah. Here Jesus, the carpenter’s son claimed He was the Messiah. They all rose up to take and throw Him over the cliff. One slight problem with their plan. Jesus disappeared in plain sight. They no longer knew Hewas. How lonely and sad Jesus must have felt, the people of His hometown rejected Him. They sought to break Him into pieces by throwing Him over the cliff. Satan tried to stop God’s plan, to stop Jesus to continue the mission He came to do and to stop the rest of Isaiah’s prophecy from being fulfilled by making Him feel worthless.

When we feel all worthless and like the trash that Satan’s lies what us to believe remember Jesus already defeated the one telling you lies and He is there to heal your broken heart.

 

 

(Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash)