Trixie was a great dog, but she was broken. The only problem was, she seemed normal to me. Here’s what I learned from a broken dog.
Growing up, we had a dog named Trixie. Everyone thinks their dog is special, but none of them were as special as ours. Trixie was smart, happy, and very protective of the youngest member of the family (that was me). One of the most distinctive things about her was her tail. A car had run over Trixie’s tail long before I was born. As a result, she couldn’t wag her tail. It just hung there, limp and lifeless.
Having a dog with a broken tail gave me a strange perspective on dogs. Trixie was the first dog I knew, so to me, she was a perfectly normal dog. When I saw other dogs wagging their tails, I assumed there was something wrong with them. “Tails can’t do that!” I knew that was true because Trixie’s tail didn’t do that. And yet there they were—wagging tails, curly tails, happy tails, tails in the air, and tails that moved so fast they were a blur. Those tails weren’t anything like my dog’s tail!
Obviously, there was something wrong with those dogs!
Something happens to us when we grow up with the belief that broken is normal. We simply accept that things are the way they are, and there can never be anything better, whole, or healed in our lives. Broken homes are supposed to be broken, broken dreams were never meant to be, and broken hearts will never mend. You see, in a broken world, normal seems abnormal.
So, when we see something that’s not broken we don’t understand it. How can anyone be that happy? How can families be that kind to each other? How can someone have that much hope?
That’s not normal!
The promises Jesus makes are for broken people in a broken world. In Mark 2:17 he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” That’s you and me! Broken as we are; sick as we are. Can we even imagine being well and whole?
The promise of Jesus seems unbelievable because it’s beyond our broken experiences–and our broken experiences are exhausting! Even though it hung there dead, Trixie could make her tail move, but it required her to move her whole body. While running at full tilt, her tail would twirl like a propeller, looking like it was about to send her flying! Of course, it was just an illusion. As soon as she tired out, her tail would fall back, paralyzed and dead.
The promise of Jesus seems unbelievable because it’s beyond our broken experiences–and our broken experiences are exhausting!
Broken Dogs and Broken People
Brokenness is exhausting. The effort to appear normal is simply too much to maintain. But there, in the face of our exhausting brokenness, Jesus promises, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).
In the face of our brokenness, Jesus offers rest. In our weariness from simply trying to appear normal, his call to us is, “learn from me.”
He can show you how to wag again.
Check It Out: Engraved
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:16
