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Mar 19, 2024 06:00am

Rise and Look Up

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With each click of the camera, my daughter’s eyes pooled with tears. Her lip quivered. All of a sudden, the dam broke. Those big, heavy tears started falling. She uttered, “I’m sorry. I can’t…” and walked away.

Everyone looked at me. My jaw hit the ground in confusion and shock. It was right before Halloween, and my daughter had a senior photo shoot with her friends. After much time was spent getting her hair and makeup on point, there was not enough time to grab dinner (this was our first red flag). Vowing to eat afterward, we made our way to the special location: the cemetery (this was our second very big red flag). The girls had chosen to wear black dresses, each different in style yet complementary to their figures. Suddenly, I could sense a mood shift in my daughter as she saw the girls. In her eyes, they were perfect—hair, makeup, and bodies. In her eyes, she was far from it in her loose-fitting dress. Oh no, I thought. Not now! I pulled her to the side and gave her a pep talk—I pulled out as many words of affirmation as I could come up with but to no avail.

It was in the middle of the shoot, amid the smoking pumpkins and sparklers, when she walked off the set in tears. Panic hit me—a friend’s photo shoot cannot go on if a friend isn’t there. Hoping to cheer her up quickly, I went after her. As I climbed into the car, she was in a full meltdown. I tried to encourage, speak life, and cheer up…yet, all my words fell flat.

After years of struggling with her body image, this was the moment my daughter broke. None of my words could solder her broken heart at that moment. All she heard was that lie that had been her companion over the years: You’re not enough. I’ll never forget this night…it was the night I couldn’t help my daughter.

Lord, I prayed, give us the words to speak to her. Help us. Help her. Please.

If there’s one thing I have learned about the Lord in our most broken moments of life, it’s that brokenness attracts Him. The sudden realization that we can’t fix a situation and make it right can send us to our knees, looking up to the only One who can.

The Bible is full of broken people in such situations. Oh, how I love the way their stories encourage all of us by letting us know that brokenness is not the end of the story…far from it. If anything, it’s the catalyst for a significant change in that person’s life.

Elijah is one of those broken people. He had done life with the Lord and experienced Him in mighty ways, time and time again. And yet, when Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah, he had a full-on meltdown and ran for his life. Collapsing next to a tree, he prayed to die. He was tired and just plain broken. (I would like to suggest that he was also hangry.)

And this, friends, was when God stepped in, giving Elijah not the death he wanted but the sustenance he needed. Through an angel, God did two things to take care of His child: He fed him and gave him water. After that, Elijah slept. Later on, that angel woke him up again, giving him more food and water. That was it. My favorite part of this story is that God treated the hanger first before he tended to the heart. In the long journey ahead, God would have 40 days and 40 nights to work on Elijah’s heart.

You see, our emotions can get the best of us so many times in life, making us think they reflect reality. Add a little exhaustion and hanger to the mix, and you can find yourself in a pit real fast. But something special happens when we’re in the pit: we’re not alone. God shows up, giving us what we need in those moments.

The next day after my daughter’s meltdown—and after she got much-needed food and rest, I might add—my husband talked with her. He said something none of us will ever forget: “Aubs, you have to learn to love yourself. Every time you look in that mirror, decide to love the girl you see. Learn to love the girl God created. She needs you to.”

Aubrey looked at him, absorbed what he said, and said confidently, “Okay.” It was the sustenance she needed to keep on going.

As she walked away, my jaw hit the ground. I had tried a million times to say all sorts of godly advice, but it all fell on deaf ears. My husband’s simple but powerful words changed her perspective from that day on. He had spoken life into her. It was a breakthrough. It was the day Aubrey began learning to love how God made her.

Friends, your brokenness can be a perfect setup to experience God. It’s not the end—in fact, I daresay it’s the beginning of a new chapter in life. Because if God did it for Elijah and my daughter, He will do it for you, too. His sustenance can show up in all sorts of ways. It can be a Bible verse aptly spoken. It can be a sermon tailored especially for you. It can be a dad’s godly advice. It can be a sudden desire to not give up.

And it may come in the form of a nice hot meal.

Either way, know this: your breakthrough is on the other side of your heartache. He sees you. He loves you. Look up, lean in, and listen.

It’s when you experience God.