Many of us know the devastating effects of tragedy.
Our lives are fragile. When they break, there are no guarantees we can repair them.
I’ve stood in the wreckage looking at the shattered pieces of my life, wondering, “How can this possibly ever get put back together?”
My dear friend and long-time pastor Judy Kennedy (she actually took a chance and hired me and Tiffany as youth pastors years ago) knows tragedy in some of its most painful depths.
We go into the details in my podcast, and she goes further in her new book. So let me give you a short overview of the kinds of things she endured:
- At the age of 8, she witnessed her brother stabbed fourteen times.
- Her father’s dark alcoholism raged through the house every week. Devastation and chaos followed.
- She was raped and physically abused by a boyfriend at gunpoint for six months straight.
- She was sexually, emotionally, and spiritually abused for five years by a church leader, and that’s not all.
The trauma did not end once she got married.
She then lost her son before he was two.
Despite it all, Judy is not only surviving; she is thriving.
She is a living miracle, and she shared her secrets to wholeness with me.
Spoiler alert: Jesus is the centerpiece of your healing.
Too Broken To Fix
Hardships are hard. Really hard.
We often are telling the truth when we say, “I don’t know how much more I can take of this!”
When you find yourself at the cliff’s edge of “this is too broken to fix,” you are ready for your redemption story to begin.
As Judy put it, “Wholeness comes only through God.” There are no other options that last eternally.
It is often the case that our sufferings threaten to swallow us up and leave no escape route.
What we have to remember is that big problems are an invitation to get to know an even bigger God.
The best part is that it only takes a little mustard seed of faith.
Ever since my interview with Judy, I’ve been thinking about her ‘nothing statements.’ There’s so much truth in them.
Below, I’d like to share them with you.
I know from personal experience that each of these is true to the core. They’ve held me up in hard times.
There Is Nothing God Cannot Rescue You From
Are you depressed?
Trapped in an abusive situation?
Held down by self-criticism or perfectionism?
Caught in addiction or unforgiveness?
God will rescue you.
He will never leave you nor forsake you. You are His bride; there is no pit that is deeper than God’s love.
There Is No Moment God Cannot Redeem
Now, you may look back at years or decades of your life and see nothing but wasted and lost time.
God sees every detail and is able to weave it back into His plan for your life. Nothing is wasted on God. He works all things for good.
As Judy puts it, “He is going to get the glory for every broken piece of my life.”
There Is Nothing God Cannot Make Whole
God brings wholeness to the parts of our story that don’t make sense.
So much of our suffering doesn’t make sense. Why did this happen? How is this even possible?
Unanswered questions can be tormenting.
Thankfully, there’s a peace that “surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). So that means peaceful living is not bound by our own minds and limitations.
The peace and wholeness that you are looking for are in the loving control of a limitless God.
When God sees fit to bring a resurrection morning upon our dark and hopeless night, then we will sing like King David, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5).