broken

To be alive is to be broken. And to be broken is to stand in need of grace. Honesty keeps us in touch with our neediness and the truth that we are saved sinners. There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples twho never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.

~Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
i cannot recall anything written other than Scripture that has spoken to me as clearly as the above passage did. i do not wish to claim any revelation here, but i am as broken as i am going to get (unless God feels it necessary to break me down more, which He is perfectly able to do because He is, after all, God) and am in desperate need of grace. i was literally crying all day yesterday and have the swollen eyes to prove it but, somehow, through my veil of tears, God spoke to my heart and let me know it is okay to hurt...it is okay to feel as broken as i did...it is okay to be as honest as i was yesterday. i am scared, i am sorrowful, i am exhausted, i am in need of grace.

and it is all okay.

7 comments:

Beth said...

Aman.

Beth said...

so sorry,,,,,,I meant AMEN!!!!!!!! too excited about seeing this post instantaneously appear as I was reading YESTERDAY'S post...

amEn.

Anonymous said...

Amen.

Anonymous said...

You have a gift for choosing images to illuminate quotations.

Amen from me, too.

annie said...

Amen again Penni. You are such a beautiful soul, even in brokenness. May you have eyes to see your beauty.

Hope said...

still praying here.

owenswain said...

Broken...such a horrifically beautiful place to be...near to the heart of God. I spent quite a bit of time there in the past 16 months. Welcome home.