Broken
I hate it when things break. Usually things are costly to repair and in many instances, it’s just better to replace them. I’ve got a car sitting in the garage that’s in need of repair, and it’s going to be expensive (thus the reason it’s sitting in the garage 
).
Most of us probably fall into that camp. We want our stuff to be whole and useful. That’s how we feel about our lives as well. We don’t want to be broken. Yet, all of us have been broken…all of us are broken. Broken relationships, broken hearts, broken faith, broken lives.
I read a post on a dear friend of mine’s Facebook yesterday. It was a repost that I’ve read before, so maybe you’ve read it as well, but I was thankful for the reminder. I’d like to share it because it speaks to the heart of the matter:
“I was in Dollar Tree last night, and there was a lady and two kids behind me in the LONG line. One was a big kid, and the other one was a toddler. The bigger one had a pack of glow sticks, and the toddler was screaming for them. The Mom opened the pack and gave him one which stopped his tears. He walked around with it smiling; but then the bigger boy took it, and the toddler started screaming again. Just as the Mom was about to fuss, the older child bent the glow stick and handed it back to the toddler. As we walked outside at the same time, the toddler noticed that the stick was now glowing; and his brother said, “I had to break it so that you could get the full effect from it.”
I almost ran, because l could hear God saying to me, “I had to break you to show you why I created you. You had to go through it so you could fulfill your purpose.”
That precious child was happy just swinging that “unbroken” glow stick around in the air, because he didn’t understand what it was created to do – which was “glow”.
There are some people who will be content just “being,” but some of us are chosen… we have to be “broken.”
We have to get sick.
We have to lose a job.
We go through a divorce.
We have to bury our spouse, parents, best friend, or our child…
In those moments of desperation, We were broken. But… when the breaking is done, then we will be able to see the reason for which we were created. So when you see us glowing, just know that we have been broken.” (Author Unknown)
Many of us have been through our share of brokenness the past 3 years – or we know someone who has. It’s painful, scary, discouraging, and filled with disappointment and grief. I know in my personal walk through grief I’ve also battled with the “why” of it all.
I look at the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the complete devastation and loss of life (projected to be over 100,000 lives lost) and I think “How can anything good come from the rubble of this tragedy?”
Then I read verses in the Bible like Isaiah 61:1-3:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” NKJV
I particularly love verse 3, “…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness….”
Jesus came to exchange our brokenness for things of beauty and joy. I was watching The Magnificent Seven the other day (the new version not the original), and Denzel Washington’s character said, “Whatever has been lost in the fire, we’ll find it in the ashes.”
WOW. What a statement.
It’s the story of redemption (The gospel, not the movie 
). Nothing is lost in the arms of Jesus. Whatever has been broken, will be restored – and it will hold greater value than ever! He restores, rebuilds, and makes ALL things new. Sometimes, when we are not yet perfected, we have to be broken to be restored to something better.
Don’t despise or give up on your days of breaking. IT IS FOR A PURPOSE. It will be painful. But remember, there will be something beautiful found in the ashes.
Peace.
If you would like to read more on this topic and others like it, check out my book:
