God’s Tender Mercy Towards the Hurting

“A bruised reed He will not break” (Isaiah 42:3).

A reed is a tall stalk or plant with a hollow stem, usually found in marshy areas or near a supply of water. It’s a tender plant, so it bends easily when high winds or swift waters strike. Yet the reed can only bend so far before it finally breaks and is carried away with the flood.

Like a reed in calm weather, America once stood proud and tall, full of purpose and promise. Our entire society honored God, and the Bible was held up as the standard for our laws and judicial system.

Yet, in our prosperity, we became like ancient Israel: proud and ungrateful. We have fallen a long way in a short time as God has been pushed out of our court systems, out of our schools, his name mocked and ridiculed. Our society has totally lost its moral compass and as a result, the America that once stood tall is now crippled, like a bruised reed. 

If we got what we deserved, America would be in ruins, devastated by anarchy. But Isaiah says our tender Jesus would not break a bruised reed. Our Savior came into a society plagued by hypocrisy and rampant with sin. He wept over Jerusalem, prophesying that its house would become desolate. Yet he gave that society seventy more years of gospel preaching. Those years were filled with Spirit-anointed witnesses performing miracles, preaching hope and repentance, and issuing a powerful call to the kingdom. Jesus simply would not break the bruised reed that Israel had become.

Consider the Lord’s tenderness toward his own people. “Great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all” (Matthew 12:15). The word “bruised” has a number of definitions: hurt, crushed by unfulfilled expectations. Many of God’s people today need a word about our Savior’s tender mercy because they have become bruised reeds.

Beloved, this Christian walk is warfare. It means battles, weariness, wounds, and facing a ferocious enemy who is out to destroy you. It doesn’t matter how bruised you are, how bent down by your flood of testing. God has made you this incredible promise: “You will not be broken. I won’t allow your flame to go out. Your faith will be not be quenched.”

Here is your word of deliverance: Rise up and trust! The time has come for you to believe Jesus is with you in your storm and he will give you the strength to endure it.