My heart has been heavy lately with news stories. I wonʼt go into detail, but the
story out of Cleveland definitely tore at me. There is so much pain, so much heartache,
and so much brokenness. And the truth is we donʼt have to look to far outside our own
lives to see this brokenness.

Reminds me of our church air fresheners. I grew up in churches that smelled like
burnt coffee and oldness, so we have air fresheners to combat the smell. The only thing
is that right now my air freshener is broken. It is supposed to send a spritz of aromatic
wonderfulness every 15 minutes, but it doesnʼt. The lever goes down, but no spritz.

I guess I could give it time. Maybe in time it will fix itself? Or maybe Iʼm just
being negative. I need to change my perception that it is working properly, and Iʼm the
problem. But honestly, none of those will help the situation. With the air freshener the
first step is to admit itʼs broken.

You ever admit that? Willing to go there? That there is brokenness in your own
life. Maybe itʼs something you wish you wouldnʼt have said to your spouse, or
something you wish you would have done differently at work, or a skeleton in the closet.
My life is filled with brokenness by loveless acts and loveless words. But Iʼm ok to
declare brokenness, itʼs even helpful, because than I look outside of myself for the
solution.

How about this solution for brokenness. Consider this written by a Christian
named Paul, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one
man, how much more will those who receive Godʼs abundant provision of grace and of
the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Romans
5:17). Basically itʼs saying that when Adam sinned in the Garden brokenness entered.
But there is something that supersedes, overwhelms, and stands on top of what Adam
did. When Jesus came into the world and gave his life on the cross he made it possible
for broken people to be complete. Through his grace to reign with him. So there is a
victory that triumphs over brokenness and it is found in Jesus and it is offered to all.

My daughter drew a great picture illustrating this. As a first grader she has a
picture posted on the inside of her desk. Jesus is in the middle with angels, sun, moon,
and stars all cheering him. But the devil is in prison. I love it. I love considering the
simplicity of what Jesus victory means over the seemingly complexity of brokenness.

It means that the one who was our captor is held captive by Jesus. It means that
even though dealing with brokenness we will reign with him. It means we know how the
story ends and who will stand upon the earth with the angels, sun, moon, and stars, and
all people singing his praise. Itʼs an awesome picture my friends, and I pray you find
hope knowing that grace overwhelms, supersedes, vetoes, and crushes brokenness.