Good morning…
God sometimes teaches truth in funky ways.
In yesterday’s blog message, I sent a captivating picture, a picture received by some subscribers and not by others. Then last night before heading to bed, I put the title “An unseen picture,” as a place holder in my computer program and it accidentally sent while I was asleep. Now God wakes me unusually late this morning. It is almost 6:00 am.
Why all this imperfection? Why all this computer chaos?
If our places of imperfection are the spots where God is currently growing us most profoundly, then let’s look more closely at this unseen picture wreaking such havoc. Putting the picture under the microscope of words, what can we collectively learn without seeing it all together?
“How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great,” says the bold white letters on the pitch black page. On the right side of the picture lies the front half of a lion’s face, resting stately, steeped in beauty. If I were a lion staring at this sentence, what wisdom would I glean? “How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great.”
Thinking like a lion, I might pull out a blank sheet of paper and make a list of pros and cons beneath these two headings: left column “WALK WITH THE BROKEN,” right column “SIT WITH THE GREAT.” As a lion, my natural tendency would be to sit beside other great lions as kings of the forest, proud of my power, strong in my strength, possessing complete control over my world. If a broken creature came into my view, I would naturally chase, pounce, and devour. End of story, another kill.
Instead, what would it take for me as a lion to walk with the broken, limping along with the weak? A force stronger than my own strength with the ability to control my controlling nature must overtake me, must override me, must overpower me if I am to learn to walk with the broken.
Having this truth sink from our head to our heart, let’s whisper this sentence aloud: “A force stronger than my own strength with an ability to control my controlling nature, must overtake me, override me, overpower me if I am to learn to walk with the broken.”
In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;
the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,
and a little child will lead them all (Isaiah 11:6, NLT).
Thank you, Jesus, for coming to this broken world as a little child to teach us how to walk toward wholeness together.
Sue
P.S. I am not kidding you. As I was writing this blog, I heard our six months old puppy, Tate, making mischief in the other room. What did I find when I caught her with a mouthful? She was eating a page out of my “The Gifts of Imperfection” book, written by Brene Brown, taught in my living room this semester. Might God be teaching us this truth in another quirky way? One gift of our imperfection is learning to walk with the broken toward a shared sense of wholeness. In this day, may we be good students of a little child.
