Repaving the Broken Road

“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

We live at the bottom of an asphalt driveway that winds from the road to our home. It began as a gravel drive and for years we had to add more crush on run to the drive. After years of gravel, we decided to have the drive asphalted. Many years have passed, and our drive has broken pieces and cracked surfaces in many places. It has broken to the pressures of the weight of vehicles constantly driving on it.

This morning my Bible Study asked me to consider any experiences I have with broken relationships. It was a request framed by any hurt that has left us ‘wiped out, wounded, and desperately needing the strength to take the next baby step down the road...our broken roads.’ Stronger, Angela Thomas-Pharr, p 145. At first, I thought of a situation a few years ago which left me crushed in spirit but drilling down more deeply I knew something different carried that title. My broken road that was paved with broken places was also paved with most of my greatest joys. For me, my broken roads involved my marriage and motherhood and I wouldn’t change a thing. For every year that I was crushed in spirit there have been many more years full of treasures.

Many times, our broken roads have also been the object of most of our greatest blessings. What makes a broken road so crushing is the reality that it is one of the paths that has offered the greatest amount of love and joy. In considering the strength that I have gained from my broken roads the price paid was worth it. I gained the ability to depend solely on God. I learned to see my responsibility in it all, and gain forgiveness. I gained the freedom from pursuing the approval of man. I gained the capacity to show grace where it wasn’t merited. And mostly, I gained trust to leave the consequences in the hands of God. When I have loosened my control over any circumstances where my heart has suffered, God has been faithful to repave the broken pieces. He has smoothed areas that once were jagged. He has made the road a kinder passage with beautiful onramps. He has filled the sinkholes that wrecked my heart.

I’ll bet your broken road is also paved with love at the base. We do not walk our broken roads without the preparation from God. He sees the journey up ahead and equips us for the walk. It’s not easy, but its necessary to gain grit and strength for the next leg of the journey. We must honor those broken roads because without them we wouldn’t have experienced the love that paved the road all the way.

‘I am tired of coping. I am tired of talking about my hurts. I am tired of living broken. I want to be healed. God will be faithful to keep His promises…My soul will be healed, not because of some well-applied coping strategies, but because God is stronger than my brokenness.’ Stronger, Angela Thomas-Pharr, p. 147, 148