Smoldering Wicks and Bruised Reeds

Read: Matthew 12:20; Job 5:7; Romans 8:19-22

I have heard it said that if a person speaks, teaches or preaches with the broken hearted in mind, he will always have an audience. Job would have agreed with that assessment as he said in the book named for him, Job 5:7. Surely, in any given week, there are untold troubles and aches that spring up like noxious weeds. Some hit very close to home, and others occur in faraway places. All result in tears. Whether shed or held inside in a broken heart. Those who belong to Jesus sometimes ache and hurt and those who have no interest in Him know the same pain. This we all have in common. God sees each tear and hears each cry, and at one time or another, each of us could be described as a bruised reed or a smoldering wick. People who are sorrowing, fragile and weary as a result of the pain of living in a fallen world.

We are in good company because even Adam and Eve came to understand what their sin brought about into the world that had, at one time been pristine, Genesis 1-2. Imagine it. Adam and Eve went from not knowing sin, violence and death to their son Cain killing their other son Abel. Talk about grief. They lost two sons on that terrible day. One was killed and the other one was banished from the presence of God, but praise God! The story didn't end there. How broken and bruised they surely felt, but they weren't without Hope, Genesis 3:15. They couldn't have known when God would make things right once again, but they knew that He would. The beauty of that Hope kept the wick burning and the reed from being shattered. Adam and Eve were held fast by the LORD. The One Who wants us to know that He came to bind up the broken hearted, and so much more, Isaiah 61:1. All creation is like a bruised reed. Longing to be set free from the bondage that it suffers because sin entered into the world, Romans 8:19-22.

I love the way Jesus spoke about bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. With compassion. No matter the reason for the weakness, the Savior dealt tenderly with those who came to him in need. In Matthew 9:35-38, we see His heart toward bruised reeds. He saw them as they were. Sheep without a Shepherd. Helpless and Harassed. Not as people to be driven and dominated but as those who needed to be tenderly taken by the hand and led. Their weaknesses did not make them expendable like worn out things that need to be discarded! How different Jesus' heart was than many of the religious leaders of His day who often looked at the weak, sinful or suffering people with contempt. Sad to say, our own world often sees the weak as those to be looked down on because they are believed to be worth less to the world than the powerful because of a perceived or real deficit. Bruised reeds that should be tossed away or wicks whose light isn't needed.

So, how should we treat the bruised reeds who are all around us, and what comfort can we receive from Jesus' statement about the bruised and flickering people? How do His words sooth the aches that are ever part of life in our hear and now? For those around us, we have the opportunity to tenderly listen to them and gently hold out the anchor of hope and truth that we have. Not minimizing their pain but soothing it as we are able. Patiently dealing with them because there is no script or handbook that states when any given step should be taken.

  For anyone who feels like the bruised reed that seems close to breaking. There are truths about the Almighty God that we would like to hold out. Not to flick away your pain but to cling to because they are true. They are throughout the Bible, but for today, let's look at what Jesus showed us about the Father when He walked among us on earth, John 1:14.

1. Jesus stopped what He was doing to ask someone who was crying out to Him what He wanted. The crowd rebuked the bruised reed, who in this case was a blind man but Jesus heard him and not only healed him but also talked with him, Mark 10:46-52. Jesus still hears smoldering wicks today. His answer might or might not be the one we hope for, but Jesus' dealing with the blind man reminds us that He is paying attention when someone cries out to Him in faith1 Peter 3:12.

2. Jesus does not reject the sinner whom others might see as not redeemable, Luke 7:36-50. She was surely seen by the religious leaders of Jesus' day as a woman not worthy of the Savior's attention. They would break such a bruised reed, but Jesus' heart was different. Imagine the joy of receiving not only forgiveness but Jesus' attention!

Without minimizing her sin, the Lord affirmed her love and stood with her. So different than Simon who held her in contempt. Surely her bruised places received healing on that day, and the Savior still holds out His arms to those who come in repentance as this lady did.

3. Jesus wept when He was around others who were weeping, John 11:33-35.

Yes, we know that Jesus knew that he would call His friend out of the grave, but once again, He didn't minimize the grief that death brought into the lives of people. Yes, of course, the Savior knew that He had overcome the world, John 16:33, but He knew that the effects of that overcoming hadn't yet come to pass; so He entered into the sorrow others experienced. People just like us. We have a Savior Who can surely empathize with us, Hebrews 4:14-16. He understands what it feels like to be a smoldering wick.

Steve Green's lyrics speak the words to end this devotion. Words that all bruised reeds and smoldering wicks can cherish:

All day they pass me by; I can see it in their eyes.

Empty people filled with care; Headed who knows where

On they go through private pain; Living fear to fear

Laughter hides their silent cries; Only Jesus hears

[Chorus]

People need the Lord

People need the Lord

At the end of broken dreams

He's the open door

People need the Lord

People need the Lord

When will we realize

People need the Lord?