Message Follow Up | Fracture: Part 1 – Fractured Stories
Fracture – Finding Hope in the Pain: Part 1 – Fractured Stories from Journey Church on Vimeo.
By Matt Dawson
In the many stories that fill our lives, everyone experiences pain. Everyone goes through moments when a FRACTURE happens and it’s painful at a soul-level.
A Fracture is a soul-depth crack or break in our story, caused by our individual decisions or compounded by our external circumstances.
Every Fracture has a Purpose… an opportunity for DESPAIR or HOPE.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10 NIV
Jesus comes to bring us Life to the Full. The Enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy us. To know this, doesn’t lessen the pain or make that fracture go away any faster.
We understand that in every fracture, there is either a purpose to take us out and flatline our story or an opportunity for God to bring HOPE to that pain.
However, there is another residual issue that happens in our faith when fractures happen:
We begin to think that God cannot use our story…
We think that because of our divorce, our moral failure, our indiscretions, our addictions, our bad choices, our mistakes, our tragic losses… we think that the plan God has for our lives is ruined – or at best we are destined to live a sub-par life, some grade B or C version of what could have been had it not been for those moments of fracture.
At Journey, we hold GRACE as one of our values because there is NOTHING we can do to make God LOVE us any MORE or LESS!
We can’t manipulate God to love us any more than He already does. He also doesn’t work on a GOLD STAR system of behavior-based rules (as we tend to do with kids).
Grace – There is NOTHING we can do to make God LOVE us any MORE or LESS!Click To Tweet
There is also NOTHING we can do, have done, will do that can diminish or lessen His amazing LOVE for us as His kids! God’s love is not hindered by our bad choices or bad experiences (no matter how many days, months, or years ago it happened).
Therefore, there is NO FRACTURE that God cannot HELP US BEAR, BRING HEALING to, or completely REDEEM if we are surrendered to Him and living in His amazing Grace!
There is NO FRACTURE that God cannot HELP US BEAR, BRING HEALING to, or completely REDEEM.Click To Tweet
Let me say that again:
There is NO FRACTURE that God cannot HELP US BEAR, BRING HEALING to, or completely REDEEM. Period.
HOPE is found in the pain of our fractures, when we understand the GRACE of God.
HOPE is found in the pain of our fractures, when we understand the GRACE of God.Click To Tweet
Do you believe that God cannot use you FULLY to accomplish His perfect will in your life?
What Fracture are you holding onto that is keeping you from experiencing the Grace of God?