BRUISED BUT NOT BROKEN

BRUISED BUT NOT BROKEN

Bible: Isaiah 42:1-4

Reading

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not
snuff out (V.3).

Fran’s dad left when she was only eight and her mother committed suicide when she was fourteen. In her pain, Fran often fought with her foster parents, but they never gave up on her. When she was sixteen, Fran decided to trust Jesus because of their example of His love. Fran believes that God has “done a great work in her” and sees how He loved her through the “gritted-teeth support, love and witness” of her foster family. Although she pushed them away, they loved her: “I think I must have been a real pain, but they didn’t give up on me,” she says. In telling her story, Fran shares the words of Isaiah to show how God loves her. Isaiah told the Israelites they would lose their homes to the
Babylonians and be taken away to a foreign country as prisoners (SEE ISAIAH 39:1-8). Yet through it all, God promised to comfort them and care for them in their difficulties. He would send His faithful Servant, Jesus, who would not break a “bruised reed” or put out a “smouldering wick” (42:3), meaning He would care for the weak, scared and helpless. Though she was in great pain, Fran didn’t break. She took hold of God’s love through her foster parents. We too, whatever difficulties we may be going through, can trust that God will never crush us and will always care for us

                                 THOUGH WE FACE TOUGH TIMES,

                                GOD WILL NOT LET US BREAK.

                                      Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries