Musing - How do you define Brokenness?

Hebraic Musing - How do you define Brokenness?

(New book just published – See Below)

How many things do you see that are broken?  By that I mean things that are not the way they are supposed to be.    The follow-up question – What should be our response? 

What brokenness do we see around us?  Examples:

·         Marriage definition being distorted;

·         Wars and hostilities in Iraq, Syria and Israel and the atrocities in the Middle-East;

·         Unborn babies being killed;

·         Injustices and lack of integrity in political, sports and business arenas;

·         Addictions to drugs, pharmaceuticals and obesity, etc.;

·         Declining church attendance and meaningfulness;

·         Cyclical perpetuation of poverty in various ethnic groups;

·         Degradation of morality in our culture emanating from the entertainment arena and elsewhere.

Do these issues cause you to be emotionally upset?   If “Yes”, that’s okay.  I’d be worried if we did not become emotionally upset when something is wrong.  If it does not bother us emotionally, then we have a different problem!

Does our emotional upset-ness cause us to be spiritually moved to seek God for an answer?  Are we seeking direction to find out “what can I do about it”?  Too often I find myself second-guessing what someone else should be doing about it! 

David called on God when he realized his own brokenness – “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”  Ps 51:16-17   NIV    We need to experience a “a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart.”  And Jesus said something very similar in the opening words of His Sermon On The Mount – "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matt 5:3 NIV   The words “poor in spirit” could be better translated as “distressed in spirit”. The word “distressed” has more significance than the word “poor” since we should be “distressed in our spirit” over some of the things that we observe that are just plain wrong.

From this, it would seem that we might feel helpless, so we give up and finally call on God; waiting for Him to solve it.  I find that to be incomplete and irresponsible.  Shouldn’t we also seek God for the direction we need so we can take action?  Maybe we cannot solve the whole problem ourselves, but what can we do?   What action(s) are available and doable?  Are we willing to simply accept the fact that things around us are wrong?  Or are we willing to take ownership of our part in a corporate problem and seek God's guidance and then take action?

How often do we simply take the news about that wrong situation and republish it in order to show others that something is wrong?  Is our desire to share grief, or were we seeking to get somebody emotionally and then spiritually involved toward a solution, or working toward resolution?

Point to ponder

Or worse yet, have I given up on the possibility of a solution?

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                                             October 7, 2014                           

New Book!   Musings Vol. 1 – A Victorious Life    Published Oct.5, 2014
            Available now at  https://www.createspace.com/5021597

Books author “Hebraic Insights”; “Biblical Marriage”; “Musings v.1 – A Victorious Life”
Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings”
Yosef1@cox.net   or  www.InsightsByYosef.com