Broken but not forgotten

What do you do when you feel broken or lame? You are left in a place where you have no voice. You can't walk, you can't talk and you feel like you are stuck in a barren place where there is no growth.

It’s funny how sometimes we will allow our circumstances to dictate our outcome in certain situations. We allow the opinions of people and how they see us, to dictate, define and even limit us, instead of seeing us for who we really are.

Oh sure, it's easy to see someone and prejudge them without really getting to know who they are as a person, in order to see their true character. The opinions of others can either cripple you or leave you in a broken state, which will only hinder you and keep you from reaching your full potential, when you only see yourself through the lenses of how others may see you.

It reminds me of a story in the Bible about a man by the name of Mephibosheth, who was lame in both feet from the time he was five years old until later years in his life. I'm reminded of him because if you read his story, he saw himself as a "dead dog." His very name meant, "mouth of shame, confusion and disgrace."

He was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul, so he was royalty, but he saw himself as a dog and he lived in a place called, Lo-debar, which was a desolate place. But the fact that he was lame, was actually due to the weakness of someone else.

You see, Melphilbosheth's father and grandfather died in battle and once his nurse heard about the calamity, fearing for his life as well, she picked him up and fled the royal residence, but in her haste, she stumbled and she dropped the child. As a result of being dropped, he was left lame and crippled in both feet. All because he was dropped.

We know that Mephilbosheth was royalty, he had a nurse or a nanny. He was a wealthy kid and I believe he was also a healthy kid. I'm sure he was eating good as a King's kid and I can just imagine him as a husky little fella, which could possibly be the reason he was dropped; because he was too heavy to carry and when someone is not strong enough to carry you or bear the weight of your burdens, your struggles, your pain, you will end up being dropped and even broken.

When you have been dropped and when you have been broken, you really need someone in your life who has enough strength and the ability to carry you because if you have ever been dropped, it doesn't mean that you have to stay in that broken place or even in the barren place you were dropped in.

Being left broken or lame, disabled or impaired limits you in what you can do and how far you can go. But sometimes it is better for someone to drop you, instead of them trying to carry you, when your weight was never intended to be carried by them in the first place.

Because once you are dropped, it is possible that you could suffer a break, like Mephilbosheth, although there are times when a break is necessary.

Last year while working out, unbeknownst to me, I fractured my foot. I immediately knew that something happened, when I took a step and felt my foot bend in a weird kind of way and I could tell the next morning that my foot felt a little funny, but I had no idea that at that moment, while working out, I had actually fractured my foot and cracked a bone. Something I had never done before in all my years of being alive.

I guess there's a first time for everything, but since I didn't know that I fractured my foot, I limped around for three weeks, going to work, teaching my Zumba class, never knowing that I was functioning with a fractured bone.

If you would happen to become injured and suffer a fracture, I've heard that there are times when it is better for the bone to just break, in order for the bone to be reset so that it can heal properly and correctly. But, this can never happen and the bone can never and will never fully heal, as long as the bone is neglected to be cared for and even forgotten.

You know, I'm sure Mephilbosheth didn't feel valued while he was in Lo-debar. He probably didn't think anyone cared about him, about his injuries or I'm sure no one viewed him as royalty. But there was one person who remembered that he was royalty, and that person was King David.

King David sought him out, because he wanted to show favor and kindness to him, on behalf of his grandfather, King Saul and his father Jonathan, whom David made an oath to, because Jonathan LOVED David! The Bible says that Jonathan was knit, physically tied to the soul of David and he loved him as his own soul. (I Sam. 18:1)

King David extended favor to Mephilbosheth because he knew who he was, even when Mephilbosheth didn't know or remember who he was. King David sent for him, by calling him out of Lo-debar, a desolate place and he made room for him in Jerusalem, at the King's table.

The Bible says that Mephilbosheth dwelt in Jerusalem and he remained lame, but he continually ate at the King's table. Although Mephilbosheth's injury left him crippled and lame, it took a King to remind him who he was by showing him that even though he was broken, he had not been forgotten.