11 Feb

All of us have experienced a broken heart at one time or another. As children, our hearts were broken in relatively simple ways; we experienced the death of our beloved hamster, our best friend suddenly chose a new friend to play with, our favorite toy broke. As teens, our hearts were tender toward our self image and the opposite sex and emotions were fragile. As adults, our hearts are tested through the trials of life and many times our hearts seem shattered, irreparable, or crushed in the depth of our soul. We can agree with the psalmist when he wrote, “I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded deep down inside me.” Psalm 109:22
What do you do when your heart is broken . . .When your boss side steps the promotion rightfully due you – When your spouse has given you bad news – When the diagnosis isn’t what you had hoped for – When you can’t make the mortgage payment once again – When your dreams have crumbled – When life happens?
Your body and heart may grow weak, yet God is your strength for your heart. He is everything you will ever need. (Psalm 73:26) God stands ready to help those who need it! (Psalm 109:31) I love that truth. God is not sitting back, easily distracted, overwhelmed by your brokenness. Rather, He stands ready to help you in your need. What do you need? You need God to repair the damage and mend the broken pieces of your heart.
“When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.” Barbara Bloom Aggrandize means to make great or greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor – to enhance the power, reputation or position of. The broken object is repaired with a precious substance which enhances its strength and purpose. And in the Japanese culture, the repair (the evidence of the brokenness) magnifies the beauty of the object.
In your brokenness, give God permission and freedom to put your heart back together. He is ready to do so with every resource available in heaven at His disposal. As His Spirit and Truth is used to fill in the damage, you will become even more beautiful and valuable to Him. Your brokenness doesn’t scare God at all, in fact, His desire is to bring people into your life, bring Truth to your heart, and bring praise to your lips to help repair the damage. Don’t minimize His power. Don’t diminish His authority. Exalt His power in your life and become the beautiful person He has intended you to be.
3 Responses for "The Beauty of Brokenness"
Truth, so beuatifully written. I Love how God has blessed you with the ability to put your heart into words, each time I read something on FB I;m encouraged ans so very blessed. God Is just waiting for us to say yes.
Thanks so very much for this awesome and timely devotional, Pastor Laurie! The beauty and worth that God has added to your life through your brokenness is so very apparent in these beautiful, encouraging words. I’m so glad that God doesn’t just “toss” us when we’re broken, and He never wastes a hurt – He always has a plan to make us better and more useful than ever. The scripture “Your body and heart may grow weak, yet God is your strength for your heart. He is everything you will ever need.” especially caught my attention, as I have just completed a series of stress tests (on the 11th!) as a follow-up to my being hospitalized with chest pains last month, and this is a calming assurance that He has everything under control concerning not only my spiritual and emotional heart, but my physical heart as well! Thank you so very much for your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s direction. You are truly a blessing of great value to our church family!
Laurie…that is a beautifully written piece and I know it will touch anybody who reads it. Thank you so much. God Bless you
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