Bruised but Not Broken

Introduction

Bruised but Not Broken is a different type of book compared to another book I wrote about human suffering. It is the story of the bruised-but-not-broken reed, taken from Matthew 12:20. It’s a story and also an allegory of the Christian life, and it answers many of the questions about why we suffer. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, this book seeks to explain why we sometimes suffer, and it will bring light and understanding to the heart and to our sometimes-muddled intellect. When darkness falls, this book will help you look for the shining moon, and when day breaks, it will help you look for the rising sun and to rise with it.

What is it that keeps a ship afloat when it is passing through a storm? What unique things keep it from going onto the rocks or into the deep abyss? It’s not because of its metal fabrication or shape. Such strong waves can tear the rivets apart. Modern communications and the ability to send out an SOS can assist. It’s not the strengthened steel, the riveted bulwarks, its shape, or its ability that brings it through a hurricane. The decks and rails can be like butter.

The crew might be healthy and strong, but they are only part of the success. The sailor’s portion of rum is wasted at this time. The ship has its Plimsoll line, but this is no help as the storm rages. These things can help. What bring it through any storm are the Captain, our Lord, and His good crew, who know through experience what to do to avoid calamity and sinking. The Captain has to take the ship, with crew intact from sinking or swimming, into survival mode. His experience begins to tell as they pass through what would have passed through them.

There will be moments, for many of sheer pain married to frustration, that are determined to pronounce the death sentence over you. You will feel as if pins of pain have stuck into parts of your body. What brings us through any prolonged period of personal suffering is a calm reliance on God, who said to the raging sea, “Peace, be still,” meaning, “Be muzzled!” (Mark 4:39), as if He were controlling a mad dog. Only God can make a rope out of the water and pull you to safety and into peace, using that cord as a cord of love that lifts you above the storm. You can be brought into "Abraham’s Bosom” (Luke 16:22), describing where ships went in a time of the storm until the storm had passed. You can go through bruising and suffering from wreck to rectify and then to the right.

Life will throw many things at us, and sometimes it includes the kitchen sink. At times like this, we don’t need to falter or fail. Within the bruising God allows, any doctor will tell you there is the element of healing. This is a type of self-help that comes from the wounded hands of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

You may feel like you are a born loser, but the Master intends that you go on to be a winner in all classes and cases. As you read this book, Bruised but Not Broken, you will find a pattern and path you can follow that will bring you to the winning line with everything intact. You will be made stronger by the power of His might.

Here are promises from God to you:

“But I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way, who can’t see where they are going. I’ll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country” (Isaiah 42:16 MSG). Let Isaiah’s words become your guide through every painful pinch. “But Thou has loved my soul delivered it from a pit of corruption” (Isaiah 38:17).