The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Restoring the Bruised Reed

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

Are you feeling down or brokenhearted? There are times in life that can be incredibly difficult. It can feel like life is beating you down. Jeff Cavins responds to this common life experience with the hope that is offered in Scripture. He reminds us that Jesus Christ does not turn his back on us and Jeff points out ways to avoid being beaten down by life. Snippet from the Show When you are feeling broken, allow yourself to be nourished by the grace offered in the sacraments. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together and living as activated disciples. This is Episode 361, Restoring the Bruised Read. And welcome to the show again this week. You know that in our lives, we go through these. times where we feel beat up, downtrodden, weak, powerless, and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of hope. If you're not going through something like that right now, chances are you have at some point, I know that I have, and it's part of life. You know, it's we are people created in the image and likeness of God, yes, but we do go through difficult times in relationships, at work, emotionally, and it's usually at times like that, that you feel kind of isolated.

You feel alone. I remember one time, years ago, when I went to a professional hockey game as a fan, not a player, and I remember looking out at about 18, 19,000 people, and everybody was so excited and cheering everything, and I was going through such a battle in my life at that particular point. And in the middle of about 18, 19,000 people, I felt completely alone. I really did. I felt alone. Well, I want to talk about that today to give you some encouragement as I was thinking

about the show today. And, you know, every week you ask the Lord, what do you want me to share? What's on your heart, Lord? I really felt that this one particular scripture in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 20 was what the Lord wanted me to share with you today, and he said that he will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick till he brings justice to victory. And so we're going to talk a little bit about that, and I hope that this will be encouraging to you, or maybe you have a teenage son or daughter at home that needs some encouragement.

Sometimes all we need to hear is that the Lord sees, the Lord hears, and that there is hope, and we have hope for those who feel hopeless. I do have some scriptures this week, by the way, and if you are interested in getting a hold of those, I'll send them to you, absolutely free, of course. And all you've got to do is text my name, Jeff Kavens, one word, Jeff Kavens, and you can text it to 3-3-777. That's 33-77.

And we'll get them to you in perpetuity. We'll just keep on giving them to you until you don't want them anymore, but hopefully you'll want them for some time to come. You know, thinking about the show, I got to tell you that this is not something that you just do every week. It's not something you just have to do every week. It really is a privilege for me to come into your life, whether it be while you're jogging or driving in the car to work or working in the backyard, barbecuing, whatever you might be doing. Maybe you're doing your homework at the same time. I don't know.

But it's a privilege for me in an honor to be a part of your life, to come into your life and to share as a brother, not as a no way. at all, not as an expert, but as a brother who, you know, I've had some experience, about 45 years of experience with the Word of God and life and people. And I was a pastor before coming back to the church where I was able to counsel so many different people. And so you really do get an idea of what's, what's hurting in people's lives. What are they challenged with? What happens in the confines, in the silence of their own heart and mind that nobody knows about or they don't know that you're, you know, you're feeling down or crushed in some way. In fact, over the years, I have found that many of the people that were actually bruised and crushed, like a bruised

reed, which we'll look into here in a moment, that nobody else around them knew that they were really going through it, you know? And sometimes we hear these stories about people, unfortunately, who take their lives. And in interviewing the family and friends, they oftentimes will say, we didn't see that coming. We didn't know. And that's because oftentimes pain and shame and sorrow to this degree, they're hidden. And people don't bring it out for the very reason that they don't want people to think that that's what they're about or that's what they are going through. And one of the advantages of a podcast like this is that just you and I get to talk, you know. And that's why podcasts are very intimate in a way. Intimate, meaning that you can become very personal about people's lives and talk about issues that they wouldn't necessarily go to a meeting to hear. And I think that's also the advantage of a podcast in that you can share it with other people. You can share this. And I encourage you to share all the shows with people. If you really, if you know of somebody who could use help in these

areas, you and I can work together and being a blessing to them. And they'll know that you love them and you care about them. Okay, so I want to share this scripture with you. I've known this particular verse in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 20 for many, many, many years, but it doesn't really come to the forefront, in my thinking, at least, until I'm in that place where, wow, I could use encouragement, you know, in that area. And it was just in this last week that I ran into a couple of people who were really going through a tough time, and this scripture came to the forefront. In other words, I buried in my heart years ago, probably over 40 years ago, and at times the Holy Spirit brings it forward so that I can remind people of what God's word is. Hopefully that's going to bring about

some hope and some encouragement in their lives. Well, Matthew 12 in verse 20 says, he will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick till he brings justice to victory. Now, I don't know if you've ever seen a bruised reed, but if you go around a pond, like here in Minnesota, we have these ponds and there's reeds growing up all around it. And if you don't have a read in your neighborhood, then Google it. But if you've ever seen these reads, most of them are standing strong and high and proud. And then you'll see certain reeds that are bent over. They're not broken completely, but they are bent over. They've lost their strength, their stability.

And that's what a bruised reed is. It's a reed that can look or feel worthless. It doesn't feel like it has any power or any purpose. It feels like it's good for nothing. It could just be discarded, cut down and discarded. And it certainly doesn't have any stability. Now, the hope of a bruised read or a reed that is bent over, kind of crushed the odds of that gaining back the strength are pretty low in fact i don't even know

i haven't studied that in that you know that much detail but i'd be surprised if you came back in three days and found that read completely straight up again and so some people feel like this maybe you have felt like this recently where you once had stability in your life and a real sense of purpose and your relationships were all there you're you know the markers in life were all present, but then something happened. Someone died or health complications came into your life. And you feel like that bruised reed. Maybe it's a lost relationship, you know, a boyfriend, girlfriend, and you feel like a bruised read. And in fact, you're even wondering, don't my friend see that I'm bent over like this? Don't they see that I'm crushed?

and it can be a real lonely place. So there are people who have felt this bruising in their lives, this emotional wound, whether it's a wound that is physical or spiritual, you feel it and you feel tired. And this is what Jesus is talking about here. Now, the question is, is there hope for a bruised read? Is there a future for a bruised read? And I want to share with you, my friend,

And there is no question, no question that Jesus has a future for you. There is no question that you have a good future in Jesus. And just because you feel bruised right now and are experiencing this sense of no stability or power in your own life, that doesn't mean that that's the way it's going to be forever. This is what Jesus does in our lives, is that he does what no man, what no woman no counselor can do. He does what no medicine tries to do. He does what medicine fails at, I should say, and counseling fails at so often. He does something with that. He brings about victory. He takes you to himself and loves you and supports you and strengthens you until that day

when you can stand again. And there's one thing that goes on in the body of Christ that bothers me from time to time is that when we hear about people who are wounded, when we run into people who they've had a bad chapter in their life, maybe they've done some things that they weren't proud of, it's unfortunate that we kill our wounded sometimes. You know, we discard our wounded, but that isn't what Jesus does, and that's not what we should be doing either. We should be coming to their side and loving them. Now, when Jesus used this, when he used this, scripture here and spoke this, he was really speaking about something back in Isaiah chapter 42. And I'm going to read that to you, but this is really a prophecy that pointed

to the coming Messiah, to Jesus. And now that Jesus has come, it becomes obvious that this prophecy in Isaiah 42 was speaking of Jesus, the Messiah. Listen to what the prophet Isaiah said. And And he says this in chapter 42. Now, that's important chapter 42 because the first 39 chapters of Isaiah are called the Book of Woes. It's like, whoa, you know, and it's God who is correcting and chastising his people. But then in chapter 40 and on, it's called the Book of Consolation. And that means that God is going to console and comfort his beloved.

And that's where Isaiah 42 is. It's in that beginning portion where God is saying, yeah, you've been through it. This is what you've experienced. But I'm going to console you now. I'm going to comfort you. I'm going to love you and restore you. So listen to what he says. Isaiah 42, verses 1 through 4,

behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. Remember, this is talking about Jesus here. He will not cry or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed, he will not break. And a dimly burning wick, he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth. And the coastlands wait for his law. So it's a beautiful picture here of walking and suddenly seeing a bruised reed, bent over, broken, aimless, no direction, and no stability, feeling like there's no purpose in their life, worthless. And a lot of people would look at that read and say, well, pull it up or cut it, break it. But not Jesus. Not Jesus. It says that when he sees the broken read, he says he will not break it, utterly break it. It's wounded, it's bruised, but he will not. break it. And then he uses another analogy, which is a burning wick. It's a dimly burning

wick. Maybe you've seen on a candle that when the flame is really, really low, it's almost like flickering. There isn't really a, it really isn't that light and that flame and that warmth that there once was when it was first lit. But it says that Jesus, the Messiah, he will not quench that wick. In other words, you know how some people put their fingers, in their mouth and get them wet, and then they'll put it around that wick, putting it out. Jesus doesn't look at dimly burning wicks and bruised reeds and say, done with you. Let me put you out of your misery. No, he restores us.

He restores us. And that's what he wants to do in your life right now. I don't know exactly what you're going through, whether it's in your marriage or at work. or your health has really played a number on you. But I want you to know it's not over. In fact, Jeremiah, chapter 29, says something so beautiful in Jeremiah 29-11. In fact, this might be one of those verses that you might want to commit to memory, just so it'll speak to you throughout the day.

Listen to what Jeremiah said. He said, this is God now talking. God says, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm me. you, plans to give you hope and a future. So as you feel so bruised and lack of stability, power, purpose, all of that that goes with it, depression maybe, anxiety, God is saying to you in the midst of it, he's saying that I have plans for you and I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you. And he says, I have plans for you that will give you two things. He'll give you

hope and it will give you a future. That's what God has for you. Hope and a future. Let's take a look at some scriptures that really build this up. We'll do that right after our break. But you won't want to miss this because this is the word of God. This is God's word speaking to you. And he said that in Isaiah, he says, so is my word that goes forth from me. It will not return empty, but it'll accomplish that which I purpose. So when I read scripture on the other side of this break, it's not suggestions. It's not hallmark theology. It is God speaking to you. And I hope you can hear it. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz. I wanted to let you know about an exciting announcement that could revolutionize

the way you listen to the Bible in the year and the catechism in the year. Ascension has released a new Bible and Catechism app called the Ascension app. Now, here's what you get. In this app, you get the entire text of the Great Adventure Bible. Just incredible. You also get the entire text of the catechism of the Catholic Church, as long with the Catechism in a year podcast, the Bible in your podcast, and transcripts for each episode. If you're like, I'm tired of listening to that guy, I just want to read it.

There's complete transcripts from each and every episode. One thing that makes this app incredibly unique is that it includes special features that make connections between the Bible and the catechism so crystal clear through color-coded references and all these links. The hyperlinks are amazing. I tried it out and I'm like, oh my gosh,

it kind of has changed the way I read through the catechism, kind of changed the way I read through the Bible. These features will help you navigate the Bible and catechism even more seamlessly so you can get more out of your experience. Also, the app provides almost 1,000 answers to Bible questions, the people who listen to the Bible in the year, they wrote in with their questions. Almost a thousand answers, and those answers come in the form of audio clips, video clips, as well as resources excerpted from some of Ascans' published works. If you want to download this app

for free, super simple, just go to the app store in search for Ascension app. I am telling you, if learning about the Bible and the catechism is important to you, then this app will change your life. Thanks for coming back, my friend. We are talking today about the fact that that God restores the bruised reed. He does not break it. He does not put that little dimly lit candle. It looks like it's about to go out any second. He doesn't snuff it out. He fans it into a flame. He builds that that bruised reed to become strong again. And that happens in his presence. It happens through prayer. It happens by setting your heart in the presence of God, in adoration, in reading scripture. in praying the rosary, in singing praise to God, going on a walk, spending time with the Lord, not time with the world and what they have to offer? You know, I think it's a funny thing, not funny, but you know what I mean, funny peculiar, not funny ha ha, but it's a funny thing that when you can't sleep at night due to

the things that are happening in your life and how you feel bruised or left out. and what do people do when they can't sleep in the middle of the night? They turn the blasted news on to television and they spend an hour in the middle of the night watching nothing but bad news. Now, honestly, is that really a smart thing to do? I don't think so. I think one of the best things you can do

when you can't sleep at night because you do feel bruised is to if you're going to get up, get up and read God's word. Read the Psalms, you know. Build up your heart with his word. Well, on the beginning of the show here right before the break, I was mentioning to you that God has a plan for your life, and he has a plan to prosper you and not harm you, and he wants you to have a future and a hope.

That's the national anthem of Israel, you know, Hatikva, the hope. God wants you to have the hope for the future. Now the Psalmist in Psalm 34 said, all these will be in the show notes, by the way. Psalm 34, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted, saves those who are crushed in spirit. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Now, if you feel brokenhearted today,

you know, with all the world going around you and everyone's doing this and that and the news and sports and Super Bowl coming up and everything, and you feel in your heart, if you feel in your heart that you're brokenhearted, the scripture says that the Lord is close to the broken hearted. You might not feel that.

That's why you have to look. That's why you have to get away with the Lord and spend that time with the Lord in his word, in prayer, and adoration, going to Mass, because the Lord is actually close to you. And he saves those who are crushed in spirit, like that bruised reed that's bent over,

crushed in spirit. He is here for you. Jesus loves you. And he knows your situation. Psalm 147, verse 3, he heals the brokenhearted, and he binds up their wounds. Maybe you feel emotionally bruised and wounded right now. Well, the Lord doesn't walk by you and ignore that. When the Lord sees the brokenhearted, what does he do?

He binds up their wounds. In other words, he helps them heal. But listen, you have to submit yourself to the Lord in order for him to heal you. I just recently had my annual physical checkup at the doctor. And if there was anything wrong with me, which, praise the Lord, there wasn't, then the only way that I can get that taken care of is to submit myself to the doctor, submit myself, you know, to the care of modern medicine. And in the same way, for those who are brokenhearted, they must submit themselves to the Lord.

That is, to give over your life to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm bruised. that, that flickering a wick. Help me, Lord. Help me. Rather than turning to the word or soaking in alcohol or watching news in the middle of the night, it's not going to help you. Make a good choice. Revelation 21, it's beautiful. It talks about the future, of course, when we're going to be with the Lord forever and ever, but we do get a taste of it here on earth in the Eucharist. And in his word, he said he will wipe every tear from their eyes there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away now i share that with you because we in the eucharist in the in the nourishment of the body and blood of christ we get a taste of eternity we get a taste of the

heavenly worship to be one with the Lord. And when you are feeling broken, you need more than ever. You need the nourishment of grace, which is the life of the Trinity. You need that in your life. In Matthew 4, I love this, says Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. news about him spread all over Syria and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases those suffering severe pain the demon possessed those having seizures and the paralyzed and he healed them he healed them you might be saying well Jeff I'm not physically paralyzed no but you could be emotionally paralyzed you could be mentally paralyzed with all that's been going

on and you feel bruised you feel like the light's going to go out Jesus heals the paralyzed. He heals those who are suffering in severe pain. One of the great things you could read right now is Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures and he leads me beside quiet waters. It refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil for you. Oh, Lord, are with me. And your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Now, a rod and a staff was used by a shepherd to do what? Well, that rod and that staff were used to rescue, rescue the sheep who might be in a very difficult situation, vulnerable, weak, powerless. And he uses that rod to lift

them, has that crook in the neck, you know, and that he can pull them out of those difficult situations, please know that right now, whatever you're going through, the Lord is your shepherd. He's watching over you. He knows your situation. Turn your eyes to the Lord. Turn your eyes to the Lord. That's what he's asking us to do right now. And let me share this one with you here. Psalm 91. Psalm 91, and I'm going to put some other scriptures in the show notes for you too. I'll give you those citations. Psalm 91 is a scripture that I always tell people who are feeling like things are going south and that it's dangerous in my life and I feel like I'm, you know, I'm falling apart. I love, I love it. Psalm 91, listen to this. Whoever dwells in the shelter

of the most high will rest in the shadow of the almighty. Oh, you need that right now. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge in my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Surely he will save you from the fowler snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers. And under his wings, you will find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and your rampart. Isn't that beautiful to think, you know, the shield of faith? That's what Paul is talking to the Ephesians about. the shield of faith. His faithfulness will be your shield. Right now you have those fiery darts going after your heart, after your mind, and it feels like an all-out attack. Well, find refuge in him. His faithfulness. His faithfulness will be your shield. Oh, that's beautiful. You will not fear

the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness. nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. And then this, verse 8, you will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked

if you say the Lord is my refuge and you make the most high your dwelling. Yet this now, verse 10, no harm will overtake you. No disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all. your ways. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a

stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra. You will trample the great lion and the serpent because he loves me, says the Lord. I will rescue him. I will protect him for he acknowledges my name. So what I would love to do with you right now is to pray. And I know that deep down inside you're saying, I love the Lord. I really do, but I feel so directionless and I feel so weak and I don't feel like there's the stability in my life like there used to be. I want you to know that he loves you. That's why you're tuning in today. You're hearing the truth and that is that God loves you. He's going to rescue you and he's going to protect you. He's going to protect you and he's going to restore you. But the only way he can restore you is if you will give up.

your struggle, your own struggle and lie down in his arms and to say, I am yours, I need you, Lord, I can't do this myself. Let's pray that together, shall we? In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my friend to you right now through the beauty of of the internet and the power of electronics and technology, Lord, we are together praying before you. and I lift up my friend who feels broken, limp, aimless, and no stability in their life, I pick them up and carry them to you and say, Lord, restore my friend, give them their strength back, give them the joy back, give them hope in their heart and faith and a good future, Lord. I thank you for placing your hands upon them and quickening their mortal body,

strengthening their mind. I pray, Lord, that hope, which came at baptism, faith, hope, and charity would rise up inside of them and would lift them up like on eagle's wings. I thank you, Lord, for rescuing them and loving them today. In Jesus' name, amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. I love you.

I'm going to be back with you next week, and I'll get you these show notes. I'll get you those scriptures. Meditate on them this week. us.