Bruised Reeds and Stoney Hearts

A few years ago, a young woman was referred to me who struggled with judgment verses in Scripture.  I only saw her once, but all she could see was condemnation in the Bible.  I would talk about the love of God and His heart for her, but she would always loop back around to a Scripture that sounded like she was doomed.  She genuinely wanted God’s love, but couldn’t believe it was for her because she wasn’t good enough.

The reality is that none of us are.  But the really good news is that because of what True Jesus did for us, we can all freely receive His grace, mercy and love, no matter what we’ve done.  Sadly, this gal could not receive it and said she was probably heading to a mental hospital.  I’ve not heard from her since.

I’ve pondered that since then and the verse that would come up is “A bruised reed he would not break” Isaiah 42:3.  Our precious Jesus deals so gently with the broken!  We see how children felt safe with Him.  How He tenderly treated the woman caught in adultery.  Those who knew their need of Him, He gently corrected, gently loved.  But we also see where He was very stern with the pharisees and called them all kinds of names.  He drove the merchants from the temple.  What is this?

To me, it is about the audience True Jesus was interacting with.  For those with tender hearts ready to repent, He was gentle and did not scold.  But those who thought they knew everything and were “right”, He had to “hit them over the head” before they would realize their need of Him and some didn’t even after that.  They had stoney hearts and could not see or understand Him. 

When we look at the whole of Scripture, both New and Old Testament, we find passages like this – some tender and full of comfort and encouragement and others that can seem harsh or judging.  Who is the audience?  What is our heart in it?  If a bruised reed takes the passages meant for a stoney heart, they just get beat up more and feel terrible.  If a stoney heart takes the passages meant for a bruised reed, they think they are good and have need of nothing. 

How do you read Scripture?  Are you seeing the verse intended for you or beating yourself up because you aren’t measuring up?  Let’s let True Jesus speak to us the passages that meet our heart and not lose our peace for passages not meant for us!