Picking Up the Broken Pieces

Listen to this morning's message. Here is the study guide:

1. Stop Before You Start

Brokenness is NOT going to be put back together from busyness. Endless activity will not heal us.

Be still, and know that I am God! –Psalm 46:10

• Go to Him with our burdens…he will give us rest.
• God is the Great Physician and the Great Counselor
• When we are in God’s presence, we put ourselves in a situation where God can care for us

Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” –Mark 6:31

You are not going to get to where you are going unless you know where you are.

Step 1: Sit down in the immediate future and take a snapshot of your life. Be honest. Reflect. Evaluate. Ask:

• What is my current situation?
• What are my challenges?
• What are my strengths?

2. Commit not to Quit

Only one thing guarantees failure: quitting.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. –Romans 5:3-5

Step 2: Commit to yourself that your current chapter is going to end well - whether it is a chapter you have chosen or a chapter that was chosen for you.

3. Get a Pair of Glasses (and wear them!)

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy.Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. –Joel 2:28-29

Our abilities and current situations are not what will limit our future. The biggest limitation to our future is our lack of vision.

Step 3: Write down two options.

Option 1 - Write down a few paragraphs about what your life will be like in five years if you make no changes to your current life.

Option 2 - Write down the best case scenario of what you want your life to look like in five years. Consider what pieces you need to pick up to get there. Consider what changes you need to make to make this vision come true.

4. Start with One of the Broken Pieces

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! -2 Corinthians 5:17

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. –Mark Twain

Step 4: Pick one piece today. Two options:

Option 1 - Pick up a piece you know you can put back together. Get a win and move on to the next piece.

Option 2 - Pick up a piece that has to be put back together. This may be the biggest and most difficult piece, but no other piece matters until this piece is whole.

5. Putting Puzzles Together Together

Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. –Vince Lombardi

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. –Proverbs 27:7

Step 5: Get a friend to commit to taking to journey with you. You shouldn't take this journey alone.

6. Celebrate Your Wholeness

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:18

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues. –Cicero

Step 6: Write a list of ten or twenty things you are thankful for. Revisit this list. Develop an attitude of gratefulness. Don't sweep the broken pieces under the rug, but don't be so consumed with dysfunction that you miss the many blessings in your life.