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I want my pieces back!

Some days I just want my pieces back!

What about you? Susan Lenzkes did when she wrote the following:

"Although it happened several years ago, I can still remember the feeling of the moment. It had been the kind of day when you lose track of which interruption is being interrupted. Everyone had been breaking off pieces of me, and someone had just hauled off the last scrap of this wife/mother/friend/churchworker.

"I wasn't sure what to do or where to go to find the lost pieces, but I had to do something. I stood in the family room, buttoning myself into my coat.

"From his observation point on the couch, my husband asked, 'And just where do you think you're going?

"With my arms slicing the air for emphasis, I announced that I didn't know and didn't care, but definitely someplace remote and undemanding. 'Everybody expects too much of me!' I concluded, marching to the closet for my purse.

"My husband's irritatingly calm voice followed me, 'I hope you don't plan to run too far. That car won't make it much beyond forty miles.'

"Yanking off my coat, I hurled it to the floor and burst into tears. 'What am I supposed to do if I can't even run away?'"

- Everybody's Breaking Pieces off of Me, Susan Lenzkes, Discovery House Publishers, 1992

I wonder if you've ever felt like Joan Lenzkes – worn out, used up, and at least for that moment trapped in a world of demands that feels like it's going to crush you. Do you ever fear that you won't measure up to the challenge of what you believe is demanded of you?

Jeremiah did; he assumed that no one would listen to him because he was too young… so he tried to avoid the assignment.

Jonah did; he was pretty sure the people wouldn't want to hear what God wanted him to say, so he bolted and ran.

Moses did; even after God set ablaze a bush in the desert to get his attention. He thought he was too poor a speaker to convince Pharaoh to release the people of Israel from their bondage, and too inept to lead them to freedom.

The writer of the Psalms did:

Psalm 55: 5-8

"Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, 'Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest – I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm."

But God cares deeply for his people who are tattered, shattered, and scattered.

Psalm 34:18

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

God invites us to not just tell him about our fears, frustrations and failings, but to dump them on his broad shoulders.

I Peter 5:6-7

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."

God urges us to seek his wisdom.

Proverbs 2:6, 11

"For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding… Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you."

God encourages us also to find strength in working as a team, rather than trying to carry the load alone.

Ecclesiastes 4

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up… Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

As for those pieces of ourselves that we have allowed others to break off… if they are indeed part of the persons God created us to be, we do need to ask God to restore them. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" writes the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10.

We pray:
Lord, thank You for loving me even – or especially – when I'm falling apart, being pulled apart, or having pieces broken off of me. Lord, give me the wisdom to deal with the pressures of our tasks in such a way as to not allow those pressures to become stresses. Help me to know when to say yes and when to say no. Braid together my personalities and gifts with those of other special people in my life, into a cord that cannot be broken and that serves you well. And Lord, when I do lose pieces of my identity, please restore me to wholeness, so that I may serve You in the way for which You created me. Amen.