With our overall camp theme being “Impossible is Nothing,” today our focus was on “Broken Hearts Can Be Mended.” Former MSC camper Scott Sandusky flew in from North Carolina specifically to teach this morning’s Bible class, and for that we are sooooooo thankful. As many know, Scott suffered a life-threatening injury on Tuesday, August 14, 2012 when one of his legs was crushed and severed when his trailer hitch pinned him under his truck’s bumper. While laying on the ground bleeding from his severed leg, he prayed to God, asking, “Let me see my family” as he thought his life on this earth was going to end that day. Scott is thankful that he was “plugged into God” and God carried him when he was broken. Needless to say, Scott and his beloved family have had a lot to endure over the last year, but he has endured as a strong, faithful Christian and it was a privilege for our campers and staff to sit at his feet while learning from his experience and from the pages of God’s word.
Scott stressed how there is a definite spiritual benefit of pushing through hard things. Some day, we will all have to push through a wall that Satan has put before us, and we must remember, “PUSH THROUGH IT!” Satan can crush us when we have a broken heart because “the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). We need to realize that life WILL change on us and we will have difficult time, but Scott’s motto he lives by is: “Mending broken hearts takes muscle.” God is our greatest source of muscle power and if we’ve got God, we CAN be mended. Life with God is grand, but it’s not always easy–it’s going to be hard at times, but we can push through those hard times because God is in our lives.
When we are having a difficult time with another person, we need to mend the situation with that person we are struggling with because even Christ wept. It hurts when we know that we’ve broken someone’s heart, but with God being the most powerful source in our life, our broken heart can be mended.
Many of us have physical hardships that cause us a broken heart. We read from II Corinthians 12:7-9 that Paul had a thorn in the flesh and he pleaded with God three times to remove this thorn. God’s answer was His grace and He told Paul to push through it. We can learn from Paul’s example that we should always keep looking up to God–don’t look down. Wearing a prosthetic leg, Scott now has a thorn in the flesh that he must live with, but he is overcoming. During his treatment and recovering following his accident, Scott relayed that a physical thereapist gave him a formula to live his physical life by: E + R = O. Event + Response = Outcome. We should always look up to God as He is the mender of our broken heart. NOTHING is too difficult for God!
When you struggle with an event in your life, ask yourself this question: “Has [this event] taken away the opportunity to enter heaven?” We must keep a firm grip on eternal life: “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (I Timothy 6:12). We should work together as Christians and our hearts should be knit together in love (Colossians 2:2).
We should have boldness in God because He doesn’t want us to faint due to our tribulations (Ephesians 3:12,13). Depression and hurt brings us down, so remember that mending takes muscle on our part. God will get us through the difficult times because He is the Master Mender.
“If you don’t plug in with God, life is going to be challenging.” — Scott Sandusky
Awesome story! This post brought tears to my eyes. I needed to hear that. Thank u for the detailed post so we all can benefit from it as well.
EXCELLENT lesson! Thank you for having such good life lessons as this for our children!