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Broken Wings
By: Lindsay Tedder
“The God of
all grace, who called you to his eternal glory
in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after
you have suffered a little while.” 1 Peter 5:10
My sensitive and
creative three-year-old son watched in horror as he picked up the broken-winged
figure.
He was completely
heartbroken at the thought of something so beautiful being broken.
At such a young age
he already recognized wholeness and that it was something for which to strive.
Instinctually I
replied “Oh honey, it’s ok. Sometimes you may have a broken wing,
but you can still fly.”
The words danced
off my tongue effortlessly and with no thought. I paused internally as I
repeated them to myself.
Then again. “Sometimes I may
have a broken wing, but I can still fly."
Wow. That’s some
heavy life lessons for a Tuesday morning Play-doh session.
As I continued to
sit with my son, rolling out the dough and making different shapes for him, I
began to dig deeper into that sentence.
I wondered if I was
wrong. Did I give him the wrong answer? I was unsure.
Later that evening,
after he went to bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about the visual of a butterfly
with a broken wing and I wondered if it could fly.
I sought the best
place I knew to find the answer, Google, of course. I was shocked at my
late-night findings.
Butterflies can fly
with a broken wing, but only if the unbroken wing is broken to match.
Cutting the
unbroken wing to match the damage done to the broken wing will allow the
butterfly to fly again.
Ok… I may be
experiencing a serious sleep deficit, but this is a super heavy thought pathway
that I began to meander.
A butterfly can’t
fly with a broken wing unless the unbroken wing is cut in a pattern of
brokenness that mirrors the broken wing.
1 Peter 5:10 says that our King will HIMSELF
restore, establish, strengthen and support us, after we have suffered a little
while.
I can picture
myself with a wing that is broken from past issues or current hurts.
In order for Christ
to restore, establish, strengthen and support me, he has to make the other side
match.
What does that
mean? Why would He need to break me more to allow me to fly?
What does it look
like in real life?
When brokenness is
ravaging my life, as it does more often than I’d like to admit, I find that in
order to heal, I have to admit.
Admission is hard
for me. I am the “strong one.”
Always.
I am the supporter
for most of the people in my life. I am always the one to give sound advice, to
support when they are tired and broken, and to uplift when they need
encouraging.
For me to admit
that I am not ok or that I am struggling with my own brokenness is what breaks
my other wing and allows room for God to come in and restore, confirm,
strengthen and establish me.
How lucky are we
that our God doesn’t stop at restoration?
Restoration alone
would be far more than we deserve and far greater than we need to heal from our
brokenness.
Yet, He chooses to
go beyond the unfathomable restoration we are promised and provide strength, support,
and establishment.
When God breaks our
unbroken wing to match the wing that has been broken, what He is saying is: My
sweet daughter, I will restore you to a former condition by breaking your other
wing in order to allow you to fly.
In so doing, I will
establish truth and validity in your heart which will give you the support and
strength you need to fly again. Rise my daughter, RISE.
What brokenness are
you fighting back today? What wound can you proclaim out loud, as terrifying as
that may seem? What do you need to give to Him?
Lay it down at His
feet. Say it out loud. Admit that you are broken.
Only then can He
come to your side, and delicately fashion your unbroken wing to match your
broken wing affording you the freedom to fly.
I implore you; let
Him allow you to fly again, my friend.
Lindsay Tedder is a believer,
wife, mom, bestie and writer who lives in Columbus, Ohio with her bearded,
bourbon-loving husband and her too-cool-for-school toddler. She is full of raw
honesty, enthusiastic authenticity, amiable compassion, humble grit, powerful
passion…and outrageous laughter, double chins, real life, and frothy
nectar-of-the-gods coffee…because…coffee. Raised by a hardworking single mom,
she overcame such trauma as sexual abuse induced food addiction, the
debilitating health issues associated with endometriosis, a decade of
infertility, and recurring life themes of worthlessness. Connect with her
at www.LindsayTedder.comhttps://www.ibelieve.com/devotionals/ibelieve-truth-a-devotional-for-women/ibelieve-truth-a-devotional-for-women-december-3.html?utm_source=Jeeng 
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