Broken

Mystery's Voice

Broken

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-12:50

Broken

Rebuilding Together

Cindy MacGregor

Mar 15, 2026

It seems like human nature to point fingers at whoever did the damage and expect only the one responsible for what is broken to be the one who does the repairs. What if, instead of putting the burden of fixing on the one who did the breaking, we instead worked towards rebuilding together?

Note. Image created using Microsoft Copilot.

My Mysterious Mind

I’ve been thinking about broken things this week, for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve been studying the book of Nehemiah in which the broken wall around Jerusalem, destroyed for a century, is repaired in 52 days by many people working together, each doing their part. Second, I experienced a shocking event in my work world which felt like an earthquake to the organization. Multiple individuals across the university were traumatized and heartbroken. The damage didn’t impact me directly, but I am grieved for my colleagues. The security they felt one moment was eliminated in the next. Like a broken wall, how will it be repaired?

The breaking of something can happen rapidly; the repairs are typically slow. A car accident happens in seconds; the subsequent restoration can require months. Slipping on ice is so fast our brains get the message after our body slams on the ground; healing from the damage drags on so long it threatens hope of full recovery.

Relationships, also, can be broken in a moment. A once-trusted friend or spouse, after betrayal, might never be fully trusted again. A once-respected leader, following a careless and destructive decision, becomes someone in whom the followers have permanently lost confidence. When relationships are broken, repairs may be possible, but great amounts of time and sustained, patient effort are necessary.

Repairing a severe break might be impossible alone; but enlisting the help of others, the impossible can become possible. Repairing a marriage might be possible with support of professionals and the prayers of friends. Fixing a damaged organization can happen when many people work shoulder to shoulder repairing it. Even if the break is mostly the fault of one person, many others can contribute to mending what was broken.

I’ve been pondering what is broken in my world, including what I had no part in breaking. How might I be called to work together with other people to rebuild?

Message of Mystery Acres

In our beautiful bit of forest, a tree fell on our shed last year. It only took a few seconds for what was vertical to become horizontal, smashing a dent across the shed. A sick awareness of the work ahead became almost more than my husband and I could bear.

Then the work of many months began. Most of the actual repairs only required two days, but the pre- and post- work took much longer. Hiring a potential company to do the repairs meant traveling to the forest to open the shed and consult on the damage. Meeting with the insurance company meant another trip of 70-plus miles to be present. Of course, we needed to be there for the actual repairs, then, on another day, for a review of the work. Issues with the repair were discovered, necessitating additional trips to the forest.

These inconveniences didn’t include the heavy work my husband did of relocating the items in the shed and securing them elsewhere. And, after the shed repair, he had to put everything back.

One tree did the damage in seconds; many people worked together to do the repairs for several months.

The message of Mystery Acres isn’t about the forest. The story of brokenness and subsequent repair could be told anywhere. Breaking happens quickly; fixing takes much, much longer. Only one person (or tree) may be responsible for what is broken, but the rebuilding happens when many work together.

Ancient Mystery’s Voice

Working together, “the wall was completed” in 52 days. (see Nehemiah 6:15)

Nehemiah was an ordinary person who, by obeying God and working together with others, accomplished something extraordinary. The year was 446 BC. The people of Israel had returned from exile and rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem but the wall surrounding and protecting the city still lie in ruin. Born as a child of parents in exile, Nehemiah never knew life and freedom in Jerusalem. He worked as a cupbearer for the Persian King, Artaxerxes I, in Susa, 1000 miles away.

Hanani traveled from Jerusalem to the citadel of Susa, a journey of four months. Nehemiah asked him about the remnant of Jews who had survived exile; he also inquired of the condition of Jerusalem. After Hanani told him, “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire,” Nehemiah sat down and wept.

And Nehemiah remained heartbroken. After several months of fasting, mourning, and praying, Nehemiah was in a position to ask for help from the King of Persia whom he served. Nehemiah requested, and was granted, safe passage and supplies for his own four-month trip to Jerusalem.

The temple had been rebuilt and completed in 515 BC, but, several decades later, the walls still needed rebuilding. Then Nehemiah, an ordinary man, directed by God with an extraordinary mission, led the people to rebuild the wall. They finished the work in 52 days.

There is a detailed list in the third chapter of Nehemiah of the people who did the work and the sections of wall or gate they completed. One ordinary person traveled 1000 miles through bandit-ridden territory to lead people he had never met to accomplish something extraordinary. Why? Nehemiah said, “My God put it in my heart” (7:5). How? Just as Nehemiah told the people of Israel, “The God of heaven will give us success” (2:20). One person, obedient to God, inspired strangers to rebuild a wall in record time.

The story of Nehemiah, recorded in the words of Ancient Mystery’s Voice, preserved for thousands of years, serve as inspiration to ordinary people to accomplish the extraordinary. Is the burden of something broken weighing on your heart? Like Nehemiah, seek the Lord’s help. Then courageously obey wherever, whatever, He wills. If the work of others is needed, confidently trust the efforts of ordinary people to accomplish magnificent rebuilding. You don’t have to be anything but ordinary to be a part of a great collaboration with God and others. Broken walls can be rebuilt by working together.

Living in Mystery

What does it mean to live in the mystery of brokenness and rebuilding together? It starts with recognizing rebuilding what is broken doesn’t require responsibility for the breaking. Saying, “this isn’t my fault; I am not responsible for helping with repairing what is broken” prolongs the brokenness by refusing to help with rebuilding. Certainly, whenever possible, the one responsible for causing the damage should assist with the repairs, but that is not a necessary precondition for rebuilding to happen. The mess caused by what is broken may not be your fault, but helping with the repairs might be your responsibility.

Next, this mystery acknowledges the disproportionate amount of energy and time for repairs relative to what was required for whatever was broken to be destroyed. Rebuilding typically mandates much more prolonged effort than the momentary lapse causing the break. Patience is needed for rebuilding what has been broken.

And, though one may have caused the destruction, many may be necessary for repairs. Rebuilding is usually best done by working together with many others. The combined efforts and exchange of encouragement mobilize sustained work over the long term. Don’t turn your back on those who are hurting and heartbroken; stand shoulder-to-shoulder and help them. Rebuilding together, we can overcome the discouragement of brokenness.

As an old mom to young parents, I admonish you to teach your children to help fix what they didn’t break. Of course, teach them to clean up their own messes. But also teach them the comradery of working together to fix something, even if they had no part in the breaking. There is too much damage all around us to leave the clean-up to others. Help them learn to accept responsibility for rebuilding what they didn’t tear down. Teach them to be like Nehemiah or one of the many wall re-builders 2500 years ago.

Sometimes we are the ones who break something; there are many opportunities to be one of the ones who help make repairs. Just as “many hands make light work,” so also working together to rebuild what others may have damaged brings the joy of comradery while also providing restoration. When something is broken, we can be a part of rebuilding together.

Connecting with Mystery

Dear Lord of All Mystery, I am burdened with the pain of those around me whose hearts or lives are broken. Strengthen me to turn away from serving only myself and towards the ways I might be able to help with rebuilding. Grant me, and those who rebuild with me, the perseverance and strength to accomplish what might seem impossible. Thank You for offering Yourself for us, Your broken children. Amen.