Is There Beauty in Brokenness?

Is There Beauty in Brokenness?

Have you ever been so broken, shattered into zillion little pieces, that you were sure there was no hope for you? Or are you heart-broken right now?

There’s good news for broken people! In Jesus all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies! There’s hope because of Jesus’ blood that poured down from the cross!

He [Jesus] was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. (Col. 1:18-20, MSG)

And that’s not the end of it. God really uses broken things as Vange Havner points out: “God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.”

God loves broken-hearted. He loves hopeless. God loves you and me. God’s love is not conditional. We can be broken, blemished or beaten and still God just simply cherishes us as his children. He is happy to heal us, create something new and beautiful from our broken pieces if we let him.

God heals the brokenhearted
   and bandages their wounds.
(Psalm 147:3, CEB)

But brokenness is not just a condition to be fixed. Brokenness opens us to the value of the blood of Jesus. Brokenness opens us to God. “Brokenness is the stripping of self-reliance and independence from God. The broken person has no confidence in his own righteousness or his own works, but he is cast in total dependence upon the grace of God working in and through him,” states Nancy Leigh DeMoss “True brokenness is a lifestyle – a moment-by-moment lifestyle of agreeing with God about the true condition of my heart and life – not as everyone else thinks it is but as He knows it to be.”

True brokenness is indeed a life-style of surrendering to God for being used for his glory.
True brokenness is surrendering to see the world and ourselves through the eyes of God.
True brokenness is living in the healing presence of the Holy Spirit.
True brokenness is being cradled in God’s grace.
True brokenness is Christ living in you.

Yes, there’s plenty of beauty in brokenness.

 

Gracious God,
Thank you that you don’t waste anything.
Thank you for seeing us as diamonds in rough
when we see ourselves as useless, broken cast-aways.
Fill us with your Spirit.
Use us to create beauty for you.
Glue us together for your glory.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: How has God used your brokenness for his glory?

Blessings to you, my fellow pilgrim, as you claim your beauty as God’s child!

Image courtesy of Zane DeGraffenried. This is a bit furbished post from 2010. Linking up today with Thought-Provoking Thursdays.

5 thoughts on “Is There Beauty in Brokenness?

  1. “Have you ever been so broken, shattered into zillion little pieces, that you were sure there was no hope for you?” Ah, yes, and that’s what it took for me to find Him. Then the way He put the pieces back together — well, it was a LOT more beautiful than what I’d been before! Thanks for truth beauty, Mari-Anna. (We end up next-door neighbors again! 🙂 )

  2. oh YES, my friend, there is indeed a precious, sacred beauty in brokenness. a truth i never, ever tire of savoring . . . b/c each area of brokenness is an invitation to run to the Cross. and He not only welcomes brokenness, He is DRAWN to it. oh, what a Savior . . . love havner’s tangible examples, & the mssg version from colossians. vibrant harmonies! (ooh, & the one from NL demoss, too!) all so good!!

    thank you, as always, mari-anna. it’s been such a delight to journey with you, friend.may His power be made perfect in our brokenness,tanya

    1. Thank you, sweet friend, for your kind words. There’s indeed sacred beauty in brokenness. It might not first look like it but when we are embraced by Christ we start seeing it. Yes, it’s been a delight to journey with you, Tanya. May God continue to bless you and keep you.

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