There are moments in life when everything seems to crumble beneath our feet. The structures we once relied upon collapse, leaving us in what can only be described as broken spaces. These are the places where our strength fails, where our understanding reaches its limits, and where human comfort proves insufficient. Yet, these broken spaces often become the very places where God’s presence is most profoundly revealed.
What Are Broken Spaces?
The Ruins of Shattered Dreams
When I envisioned my future, it looked nothing like this. The career I pursued for years suddenly ended with an unexpected termination. The financial security I worked to build vanished with a market crash. The relationship I invested in dissolved despite my best efforts. These broken dreams leave us in spaces filled with disappointment and disillusionment.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
The Valley of Grief and Loss
Perhaps the most painful broken space is the one created by death. When someone we love is taken from us, they leave behind a void that nothing else can fill. The home feels emptier. Conversations lack the voice we long to hear. Special dates become painful reminders rather than joyful celebrations.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
The Desert of Physical Affliction
Our bodies were not designed to suffer, yet they do. Chronic pain, debilitating illness, and physical limitations create broken spaces that restrict our movement, drain our energy, and challenge our independence. Health challenges can isolate us in spaces where others cannot fully enter or understand.
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” (2 Corinthians 12:7)
The Wilderness of Mental Struggle
Mental health challenges create invisible broken spaces that are no less real than physical ones. Depression casts a dark shadow over everything. Anxiety fills peaceful moments with dread. Addiction creates cycles of shame and despair that seem impossible to break.
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)
The Ruins of Fractured Relationships
When trust is betrayed, when words wound deeply, when reconciliation seems impossible—these are the broken spaces of human connection. Family estrangement, friendship dissolution, and community conflict leave us in places of isolation and alienation.
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18)
God’s Presence in Broken Spaces
The remarkable truth revealed throughout Scripture is that God does not abandon us in our broken spaces. Rather, He often makes Himself known most powerfully precisely in these places.
God Dwells with the Broken
Contrary to what we might assume, God does not require us to leave our broken spaces before He will meet with us. He comes to us right where we are, in the midst of our brokenness.
“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15)
God Uses Broken Spaces for Transformation
Our broken spaces are not merely places of suffering; they are workshops where God shapes us. The heat of the furnace that feels like it will destroy us is precisely what God uses to refine us.
“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
God’s Power Is Perfected in Weakness
When we reach the end of our strength in broken spaces, we discover something remarkable: God’s power operates most effectively precisely when our power fails.
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” (Isaiah 40:29)
Finding God in Our Broken Spaces
How do we practically encounter God in these painful places? Scripture offers several pathways:
Honest Lamentation
God does not ask us to pretend our broken spaces do not hurt. The Psalms model for us how to bring our raw grief, anger, and questions directly to God.
“How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?” (Psalm 13:1)
“I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.” (Psalm 6:6)
To find God in broken spaces, I must first acknowledge the reality of my pain before Him. I need not sugar-coat my experience or hide my true feelings. God can handle my honest lament.
Surrendered Stillness
In broken spaces, our instinct is often to frantically search for solutions or escapes. Yet Scripture invites us to a different response: becoming still enough to perceive God’s presence that was there all along.
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
“And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)
Scripture Immersion
God’s written word provides anchors of truth when our emotions and circumstances are turbulent. The Bible offers not just comfort but perspective that transforms how we understand our broken spaces.
“This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.” (Psalm 119:50)
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
I find that when I saturate my mind with Scripture, I begin to see my broken spaces through God’s eyes rather than my own limited perception.
Community Connection
God rarely intends for us to navigate broken spaces alone. He provides fellow travelers who can offer perspective, practical help, and prayer support when our own resources are depleted.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)
Even when I feel most isolated in my broken spaces, I must resist the temptation to withdraw completely from community. Sometimes receiving help from others is itself an act of spiritual growth.
Worship as Warfare
Perhaps counterintuitively, offering praise to God from broken spaces becomes a powerful spiritual act that shifts atmospheres and hearts.
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” (Acts 16:25-26)
When I choose to worship from my broken place—not denying its reality but declaring God’s greatness despite it—something supernatural occurs both in my circumstance and within me.
The Healing Process in Broken Spaces
Finding God in broken spaces initiates healing, but this healing often unfolds as a process rather than an instantaneous event.
Acknowledging the Need for Healing
Before healing can begin, I must recognize and admit my brokenness. This requires humility and honesty.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)
Embracing the Pace of Healing
God’s timeline for healing rarely matches our desire for immediate relief. Learning to trust His timing becomes part of the healing journey itself.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-3)
Participating in the Work of Healing
While God is the ultimate healer, He often calls us to participate actively in our restoration through practical steps of obedience, self-care, and growth.
“Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:12-13)
This may mean seeking professional counseling, taking prescribed medication, establishing healthy boundaries, or developing new habits that support wholeness.
Receiving Healing as a Gift
Ultimately, healing in broken spaces comes not through our own efforts but as God’s gracious gift that we simply receive.
“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.” (Jeremiah 17:14)
The Fruit of Broken Spaces
As painful as broken spaces are, they often produce lasting value that could not have come any other way.
Deeper Compassion for Others
Having experienced brokenness ourselves, we develop genuine empathy for others in similar situations and can offer authentic comfort.
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Greater Spiritual Maturity
The testing of broken spaces, when embraced with faith, develops qualities that cannot be formed in comfort.
“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4)
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
More Authentic Worship
When we have encountered God in broken spaces, our worship becomes grounded in reality rather than idealism.
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” (Job 13:15)
Beauty from Brokenness
The ultimate promise for those who find God in broken spaces is that He makes something beautiful from what was broken. Just as a skilled artist creates mosaic masterpieces from broken pieces of glass, God creates new beauty from the fragments of our broken spaces.
“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:3)
The Japanese art of Kintsugi repairs broken pottery by filling the cracks with gold, creating something more valuable and beautiful than the original unbroken piece. Similarly, God does not simply restore us to our pre-broken state; He creates something more beautiful through the very breaks themselves.
As I reflect on the broken spaces in my own life—the disappointments, losses, and failures that once seemed only destructive—I can now trace the golden lines of God’s redemptive work. What I could not understand in the moment of breaking has become clearer with time and perspective. The broken spaces became the very places where I encountered God most profoundly and where my life was most significantly transformed.
If you find yourself in a broken space today, take heart. You are not abandoned there. The God who specializes in creating beauty from brokenness is with you, and this current broken space may become the very place you look back on as the turning point where everything changed—where you found God waiting for you in the midst of the rubble, ready to build something new.
“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)
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