A Song for Help in Broken Places

My left hand is misshapen, twisted, and scraped. My fingers feel disconnected from the rest of my arm. I try to push my palm back into place. Pain sirens through my arm like a stern warning. I ask myself why I’m so clumsy, and I scold myself for being so upset when it could’ve been worse. 

I stand on the sidewalk for a moment feeling foolish, hoping no one saw me fall. I decide to walk home, pushing my twisted bike frame, one slow step at a time. 

As I stumble forward, I try to put words together to pray but can’t. I sing instead. 

In off-key whispers, I plead by song with the One who says His help is ever-present and not limited to cases bigger and seemingly worthier of need. I do what the song says and lift my eyes up from the crooked metal. My voice rises as I ask where my help comes from and agree that it comes from the Maker of heaven, the Creator of the earth—the One who is there with me. 

After hand surgery, buttoning my pants, putting my thick hair into a ponytail, and opening my kids’ water bottles stack up into a long list of things I can no longer do on my own. I wince as I try to move my stiff wrist and exercise the muscles like I’ve been told to. My son furrows his thick brows, asking me, “Why can’t you move yet? Why does it have to hurt? And why did it happen at all?” 

I tell him I don’t know the answers to those questions but invite him to do the exercises with me. We laugh as we bend our fingers in tandem, carrying each other through the pain of what we don’t understand. We surrender to the mystery of song and joy that still rises from broken things, and I remind him that we have an ever-present Help who will not be thwarted from making all things new. 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. PSALM 121:1-2 NIV 

Where are you finding God’s strength today? 

This is an excerpt from 100 Days of Strength in Any Struggle from (in)courage – a devotional now available on DaySpring.com. Shop all books, journals, and devotions from DaySpring here.