Hope When Things Are Broken
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Most days I experience something broken. Sometimes it’s something physically broken-a glass that I drop and break, my shattered phone that I use all day long, a child’s skinned knee. Other times its something more deeply broken–a friendship, a promise, a heart.
In all these broken things, I feel the weight of what’s not right. Weren’t our things designed to work and not break? Shouldn’t friendships be full of joy and not disagreement? Shouldn’t a life be long with time for deep, meaningful moments?
The prophet Isaiah addressed these places of brokenness and helps us know how to respond to what we experience. He described the pain and weight of sin, but he also told of what was to come.
He lived before God sent Jesus to be born to Mary, but he was looking forward to a time when a Savior would come and make things right. Jesus is this Savior–he was who the prophets and people of the Old Testament in the Bible were waiting for. They were hoping for a Messiah and King who would make all the wrong in the world go away. Isaiah described the one he was waiting for as the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” (Isaiah 9) one who comes to bring justice and mercy.
This Savior, Counselor, and Prince of Peace is Jesus. He has come to save his people, and his death on the cross accounts for all of the sin in the world. Although things are still broken and hurting, Jesus began the work of making everything new again. He promised that he will come again to bring full healing, true peace, and complete justice.
Until he comes back again, we wait for that day with hope. We still experience pain, tears, and broken hearts, but we know that our hurt now isn’t the end of the story. God’s story ends with peace and balm for our broken hearts for eternity.
As we live today, we can be honest with God about how we’re feeling about his hurting world. We can tell him what’s weighing down our hearts, and we can trust that he is faithful to keep his promises. We can long for that day when all of our tears will be wiped away and “everything sad will come untrue.”
For Further Reading: Isaiah 9:6-7, Revelation 21:3-4, 22:20