Jump Start # 1845
Proverbs 18:14 “The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, but as for a broken spirit who can bear it?”
Our passage today tells us what we know all too well. Sickness of the body and sickness of the heart or the mind are two very different things. We hate getting the flu. It sidelines us for several days. Everything comes to a screeching halt when we are sick. But when we are sick in heart, discouraged, down, depressed, hurt, bothered, we can still walk through the day, go to work, function, but it’s very hard. The broken spirit takes much longer to heal than physical sickness. A few days in bed, some good chicken soup and we can snap back after being sidelined physically. But the broken spirit can drag on for weeks, even months. The broken spirit is like living under a giant blanket—everything seems darker and gloomier than what they are.
There are many reasons why a spirit can be broken. Shame and guilt from sin can do that. It can happen when people have let us down. It can happen when others are not doing what they ought to be doing. Parents can have broken spirit when a child is living as a prodigal in the far country. When a marriage starts coming apart at the seams, a broken spirit will follow. When someone realizes things are not going to get any better, it can cause a broken spirit. This is true when one watches a loved one nearing death. This can happen when one realizes a congregation is troubled and dead and no one cares.
The broken spirit seems to drain life out of a person. You can tell by looking in their eyes. You can tell by the way they walk. They seem to move slower when their spirit is broken. You can tell by the expression of their faces. Joy and peace have been replaced with sorrow, tears and worry. It’s hard seeing this in others. I have sat with many people with a broken spirit. Most times they are looking for a quick, painless and easy solution. There isn’t any. They want prayers. They want someone else to carry this burden. They are tired, weary and often out of ideas. Most times, by the time others find out about it, they have been broken for a long, long time. They hid it from others. They carried it themselves, ashamed to tell others. They hoped that things would get better. But they haven’t. It’s gotten worse. And now, they carry that brokenness in their body.
What is interesting about the contrast this Proverb brings, sickness in the body and sickness in the heart, is that the broken spirit many times leads to sickness in the body. When we do not feel well in spirit, we easily start feeling bad in the body. Sometimes that happens because we do not take care of ourselves when we have a broken spirit. We don’t sleep well. We don’t eat well. That combination leads to feeling bad on the inside and the outside. That only complicates things, but it allows a person to have an easy answer when people ask what is going on. Now, all a person has to say is, “I haven’t been feeling well.” This is true, but the real truth be known, it’s because of a broken spirit that you now do not feel well physically.
Our passage is depressing. It can give one a broken spirit. The way it reads, it sounds like there is help for sickness in the body. Just hang in there, “this too shall pass,” is generally true with most sicknesses. A man can endure it, is what our verse says. But when it comes to the broken spirit, “who can bear it?” is how this verse ends. That doesn’t offer much help nor hope. It sounds like a broken spirit is a death sentence. It sounds like there is no getting over it. But this verse doesn’t stand alone. We cannot forget what the Lord has said throughout His word. On your own, you probably can’t do much with a broken spirit. But we are not on our own.
What helps heal a broken spirit?
First, knowing the Lord is there helps. David said, “A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Ps 51:17). Peter said, “casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7). A major factor in creating a broken spirit is the feeling that we are alone and that no one else understands nor cares. God does. Not only does God care, He knows the story. He knows the history. He knows what led up to our broken spirit. We don’t have to convince God, explain to God, or get Him to understand, He already knows. Not only does the Lord know, but the Lord is in the position, more than anyone else, to actually do something. God can help. This is why Jesus said, “Do not be anxious.” This is why Peter said to “cast all your anxiety upon Him.” God can move things, open things, and do things that are beyond our sight and understanding. The more we shut God out of our lives and out of our problems, the deeper we fall into a broken spirit.
Second, being around quality people and taking care of ourselves is essential. Elijah was hiding in a cave from Jezebel and her death threats. We all have our own caves. Dark. Lonely. And all we think about is how bad things are for us. God told Elijah to get out of the cave, eat and go appoint someone as king. Get out of the darkness. Open the blinds. Let the sunshine in. Take care of yourself. Eat. Then go do something for someone else. Get around others. When Paul was depressed, God sent Titus to him. Titus refreshed his spirit. Get back to work. Spend an afternoon with the grandkids. Get to church services. Plug back into life. This helps us get our minds off of self and it helps us to count our blessings. Sometimes around others we will pick up great ideas that we haven’t thought of. We will face our troubles with an new energy and a new hope.
The problem with doing these things is that the broken spirit hides behind the excuse, “I don’t feel like it.” No, you don’t. But you have to do somethings that you don’t feel like. You don’t feel like going to worship, but you will and you do. You don’t feel like shaving, showering, eating, getting out of the house, but you will and you do. You don’t feel like being around others, but you will and you do. I don’t feel like it only keeps us in our dark cave longer than we need to be.
Third, trust God. In His time, He will do things. When God told Elijah to get out of the cave, eat and do something, Jezebel was still around. His problems weren’t gone. Not yet. A chapter or two later and Jezebel gets it, but not when God first tells Elijah to move out of the darkness. Your problems will probably still be there. But we can’t let our problems, especially other people, dent our faith and ruin us with the Lord. Our problems will stay here. They do not go with us to Heaven. God’s time table is not ours.
Fourth, prayer is powerful. Cast those troubles and worries to the Lord. Let God have them. Don’t shut God out of your life. Pray every day. Pray often. I am so impressed with the bent over woman who Jesus healed. There are two remarkable things about her story. First, she didn’t throw her back out over the weekend. She was this way for 18 years. That’s a long time. Second, Jesus saw her in the synagogue. She hadn’t given up on the Lord. Being there, implies that she was Jewish. One can only wonder how many prayers she said in those 18 years concerning her back. For 18 years, it seems like her prayers were ignored. She hadn’t gotten any better. Then that one day, Jesus saw her and healed her. It’s hard imagining the patience that this woman had. It’s hard to think that she would still go to the synagogue to worship when it seems God was not answering her prayers. Patience, faith and hope were the key. We will not have a miracle like she did, but we need that same patience, faith, and hope. God can do things without miracles these days. God can heal a broken spirit.
Finally, listen to those who have been healed of a broken spirit. Listen to what believers have to say. Don’t rely on pills to get you through those dark days. Don’t sleep yourself through those long periods in the valley. Listen to what works and what doesn’t work. Be strong. Feed your soul. Connect with others. Someday, you will be able to help others. Someday you will be on the other side of these problems and then you can reach out and be the Titus for a depressed Paul. Someday God will use you to share, teach and remind others of the goodness of God.
Who can bear a broken spirit? The child of God can. He can because He has Christ. He can because Christ will see him through.
Roger