Your deepest wound could be your greatest gift!
I found myself actually thanking God for the ones who left me wounded. Those wounds and the ones who left me wounded, actually expanded my heart. I never knew I could feel so much. I never knew I could hurt so deeply. I never knew that my shattered heart had more value than simply fragmented pieces. I may never know their intentions, but what they did was turned into a gift. My brokenness did not make me unusable, disabled or counted out. Through Christ, it made me more useful.
It’s like when you were a kid, and you see the kid who has the best painting. They go around showing their talents off. You may be happy he won the contest, but it also makes you feel a little timid to show your painting. Whereas the kid who says, “My painting is a messed up”. His admission brings a freedom for you to show a messed up painting too.
Life is full of trials, seasons, and circumstances outside of our control. We have all faced times where we need a rescue. Life breaks us. Sometimes broken and hurting people break us. Sometimes, we break someone else. The great news is, “There is a future for all these broken pieces” (See song of the week below)
When we are not broken and wounded, or have been, and try to come across as having it all together, I believe, we miss out. We have nothing to offer. Ann Voskamp, in the Broken Way, talks about how in Jesus’ brokenness, He gave. That is what we need to do as well.
My broken pieces are there to share with others, like your broken pieces are there to share with others. My one broken piece could be the piece your heart needed to carry on. Your broken piece could be the one I needed.
When “have it all together”, we are all show and have nothing to give. We don’t understand how to give. But, when someone else opens up about their brokenness, it creates a safe place for me to share about mine. We may have different experiences, but we both understand pain. We both know how it feels to be broken. Somehow sharing our brokenness makes both of our loads seem lighter.
God knew the minute sin entered into this world, brokenness would ensue. He is the author, perfecter and completer of our lives. I believe it’s when we turn our shattered pieces over to Him that He can use us the most.
One verse that comes to mind frequently is Revelation 12:11. “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death”
We overcome our brokenness by sharing it. We overcome by telling our story. Rebekah Lyons puts it so profoundly accurate, “It’s not our story of struggle, but His story of rescue”. It’s not about our “Woe is me” it’s about “Who He is”.
I think God like mosaics. Because that is how He’s built His church. He takes all the surrendered shattered pieces and then pieces them into a beautiful work of art. Then, as the Light of the World, He shines through it. It has nothing to do with us. We just have to surrender the brokenness and He is the one who gets the spotlight. We can’t pick up our broken pieces because when we handle broken pieces, we often get cut and cut others. We are all in need of a master designer who sees treasure in us when others only see trash. Inevitably, we are more precious broken than “all put together”. He takes the brokenness and makes us more equipped for life.
So whether or not you are in touch with the ones who left you broken, we can still give thanks. God is piecing us together. He is helping us to be courageous enough to admit our brokenness. He is shaping us into something beautiful where He gets the glory; where He and His artwork are on display. Without Him, we are just a lump of shattered pieces on the floor.
So ask for strength in your brokenness. It can be wearisome, but in our weakness He is strong! God is not done with us. There will be more breaking, and more making.
Song of the week
Help From Heaven by Matt Redman
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