Smashed Rainbows

retro blogs from 1990's

Smashed Rainbows

~Cori Jones

The Lord has ministered to me some beautiful "jewels" from Psalm 34 recently. It's like I can't get away from it.....I've read it in every translation; meditated on it; journaled these thoughts; opened a devotional to find it based on that chapter; looked at a calendar and found another verse from Psalm 34 and then today the Lord gave me a "heart thought" on the passage that I wanted to share with you. This comes from my blog so it's a bit haphazard. I hope you can "connect the dots" because the picture is beautiful.

Christians must entrust five burdens to the Lord to receive blessings from Him. 

First, trust the Lord with your frustrations (Psalm 34:17). The word trouble means "to be in a bind" or "frustrated."

Second, trust the Lord with your feelings. In this Psalm David was repenting because of his sin, and his heart was broken. Job 17:11 reflects how I feel at times, "My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart." God understand broken-heartedness; He is always near those who have a broken heart. Verse 18 says, The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

There is the little story I remember reading recently of a little girl.....  She and her mother were walking down a sidewalk after a rainstorm. Someone had spilled some automobile oil on the pavement. Seeing that, the little girl said, "Mommy, look at all of the smashed rainbows!"

Abraham...experienced a smashed rainbow in Genesis 22.  A death to a vision. Most often you will experience a death or two to your vision before you see it to fruition (bearing fruit or coming about). Can you even imagine how it must have felt to "sacrifice" the one thing that had been promised to you and that you had waited for until you were a senior citizen? That is probably how he felt hiking up Mount Moriah (meaning "chosen by the Lord") to give his promised child back to God. The story doesn't seem as traumatic to us because we've read the entire story and know that everything worked together for good because He loved God and put His will above his own ...even above his own reason and understanding of God's will. But smashed rainbows or promises look very bleak when you're walking in the Lord's chosen will for your life.

Maybe your rainbows have been smashed, and you have a broken heart. Perhaps you don't feel close to God because of your heartache. What can you do to be near to Him?  First, remember that nearness is likeness. "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart" (Psalm 34:18). The more we are like God, the nearer we are to Him. There is another way to get close to God. You can get as close to Him as you want.  Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you. Remember that God knows the meaning of a broken heart.  Jesus Christ literally experienced one.  He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).  Let your experiences make you more like Jesus, and He will draw near to you.

Third, remember that God gives grace to the humble. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).  David also said, "A broken and a contrite heart....these, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).  Our Lord came "to heal the brokenhearted" (Luke 4:18).  Do you have a broken heart that needs healed? Here's the simple secret:  Give the Lord all the pieces, and He will heal you.  I heard someone say once that Jesus is the GLUE of our lives and the more pieces our lives are broken into, the more of Him we need to hold the pieces together.  So brokenness can be blessed when it results in more of Jesus’ presence!

Everyone has experienced dashed hopes and smashed plans.  Take comfort in knowing that your Lord heals the broken heart.  Are you getting over a crushing experience?  Or maybe nothing is happening at all....those are the days I think of as "numbing" days. The author of Proverbs (ch.13 v.12) knew all about those days and tells us, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desired fulfilled is a tree of life."  Is your heart broken through heart-sickness today? The Lord understands what you are going through.  Draw near to Him with a humble spirit and give Him the broken pieces of your heart.

Fourth, trust the Lord with your future (v. 20). The word guard means "to exercise great care over, to protect."  When Jesus was on the cross, the Devil was doing his worst, yet he could do only what God permitted. God was guarding His own Son, and He will guard us, for He is concerned with our future. 

Fifth, trust the Lord with your foes (v. 21). Their own sin will slay them. "Evil shall slay the wicked." Give your enemies to the Lord. Let Him be the Judge (Romans 12:17-21). And last, trust the Lord with your failures (v. 22). The word condemned means "to be held guilty."  David sinned against the Lord (the cause of his broken heart), but God rescued and forgave him.

I hope you connected the dots and can see the picture as the Lord has shown me!?!  Let's take all the bits and pieces of color from our smashed rainbows and let the Lord create something new. You will discover another type of rainbow....a beautiful kaleidoscope of color that is never the same twice! You are loved with an unconditional, forever kind of Love....a kind we will never experience but from Jesus!