Brokenness filled the arena.
All eyes were on Will Graham Sunday night, April 29, as he gave one final message in the Freedom Hall Civic Center at the Tri-Cities Region Celebration in Johnson City, Tennessee.
>>See photos from Sunday night.
“Your life is broken, in pieces, and you don’t know where to begin,” Will said, sharing a story of how he had tried to fix his first car but couldn’t seem to figure out what was wrong with it.
“I am here to tell you God can change it all,” Will said. “God can take the brokenness of your life and give you a whole new life.”
Across the room, thousands of broken dreams and expectations silently echoed in people’s hearts.
Many in the crowd never thought their lives would turn out this way, Will said, sharing how a woman named Hannah in the Bible had also experienced brokenness.
“This was not the life she had dreamed about,” Will said. “From the outward appearance everything looked good, but internally everything was falling apart.”
The cause of her shattered heart was not from a delayed dream, a ruined expectation or a dysfunctional household.
“The problem was about sin,” Will said.
“God can take the brokenness of your life and fix it, but you have to be willing to surrender it,” Will shared, noting that God has a perfect plan that we don’t always understand.
Tears flowed from one woman’s eyes as she thought of her own shattered life. Growing up in a low-income home and abandoned by her father, she had felt the sting of imperfection from a young age.
Sunday she came to the Celebration with a heavy heart, as her son recently attempted suicide and she lost her job.
“Things just don’t stop,” she said repeatedly, shaking her head. “You need a Higher Power to help out.”
Dozens of others also recognized their need for God, coming forward at Will’s invitation to surrender their sorrows to the Lord.
Will told those who gave their lives to Christ that they will still mess up—they aren’t perfect people—but God will direct them back to Him.
Andrew, a counselor down front, fully agreed. Will’s message touched home for him.
Andrew’s life was nothing like he expected—in the past decade, he has experienced separation from his wife and three kids, drug addiction and jail time.
Even after accepting Christ, he tried to take his own life.
Despite it all, God intervened, saving him from his attempts of self-destruction and calling him to fully live for Him.
Andrew said he can attest to Will’s words Sunday night: “I cannot take away your brokenness. Jesus can.”
Many others realized that as well, lingering after the event was over to pray or talk with others about the Lord. Their problems still existed, but their hearts were at peace with God, beautifully broken and wholly surrendered.
Even in your brokenness, God loves you. Surrender your heart to Him today.
