I still vividly remember breaking four toes on my right foot during a karate tournament back in 1984. I was in a competition and attempted a jump-up front snap kick to break a 4-inch-thick piece of wood. I either jumped higher than I meant to or the boards were held a little lower than expected. Either way, I was unable to fully flex my foot prior to hitting the boards with the ball of my foot. Instead, I hit my intended target with the tips of my toes. OUCH! The wood did break, but so did my toes. The next few months were miserable, as I moved around on crutches and rewound the mental “instant replay” over and over, wishing I had another opportunity to do it over again.
Years later, when God had raised me from death to life, I was brought up short when I read Psalm 51 for the first time. My attention fixed on verse 8—“Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.” I remember thinking how counterintuitive it was to find blessing in broken bones! But when God is the one doing the bone breaking, we can be assured that it will result in blessings multiplied. When David speaks of “broken bones,” he is turning our attention to the pain associated with our redemption. This physical metaphor for the painful process of our salvation is quite instructive. How self-centered, self-reliant, self-righteous, and self-absorbed David must have been to have painted such a picture of pain as he related his redemption, wrought by the hands of his Redeemer!
Over the years I have found the secret of being able to receive with great joy this blessing of broken bones. The key is found in the understanding that David’s story is my story . . . and it’s your story too. This was very difficult for me to understand and receive early in my Christian life. I had not committed adultery. I never fathered a child with a woman who was not my wife. I never committed murder to try to hide my sin. How naive I was, until God took the blinders from my eyes so I could see myself for what I truly was—a great sinner in need of an even greater Savior. This season of David’s life was the proverbial “train wreck,” and my train was moving steadily down the tracks of total truth toward its intended destination.
There are two reasons why we cannot see ourselves playing the lead role in David’s story. The first is a distorted self image; we simply think we are better than we actually are! The second is a distorted image of God and His holiness. We either raise ourselves up too high or bring God down too low. Either way, we view ourselves as those looking into a carnival mirror, who see an imprecise reflection that looks nothing like the real person. But God refuses to leave us this way. And in the process of our redemption, He often finds it necessary to break a few bones along the way. As much as we don’t like it, it is better to suffer a broken bone or two than to be left alone to wallow in our distorted unbelief or disillusioned unwillingness.
The Great Physician knows what is best for His patients and is committed to breaking however many bones as it takes to eradicate every idol our sinful heart manufactures and to bring us back into the loving arms of our Savior. He will break us free from our comfortable existence. He will break us free from our addictions. He will break us free from our self-protection, self-absorption, and self-reliance. This is the blessing of “broken bones.” This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 