Beautifully Broken

 

What’s the worst thing you’ve broken? A priceless heirloom? A neighbor’s window? A DVD player in the middle of a Twilight marathon? Brokenness usually has negative connotations. If something is broken, it’s no longer the same. It’s damaged. But do our experiences that make us broken always have to end badly?

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 ESV

 All things. If you ate all the Oreos during a late night splurge with your roommate, you haven't only eaten the perfectly round intact cookies. You’ve eaten the ones missing the sweet cream filling and the ones that are crushed chocolate crumbles trying to escape to the back of the package. Jesus takes our Oreo cookie crumbles and makes them into an even more delicious cookie.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 ESV

What time is it for you? Maybe you’re weeping. Maybe you’re dancing. Maybe you’re trying to weep and dance at the same time to propel yourself out of that mourning place and into that laughing place. I’ve been in all of those places, and this is what I know. I’m not in control, but I know who is, and He’s not going to let me slip through His fingers.

 

“The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” 

Proverbs 16:4 ESV

There is a time for weeping, but whatever it is that brings us to that place does not have to end in that place. Those salty warm sometimes seemingly never ending tears can end in a downpour of new fallen showers that cause us to dance when we least expect it.

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 

Revelation 21:4-5 ESV

I know some of you are going through really rough stuff, and I don’t want to make light of anything, but I want you do know that no matter what your situation is, there is hope in Jesus Christ. There is a time for everything. Maybe this is your laughing time. If it is, hold your head up high and laugh. Maybe this is your weeping time. If it is, let God wrap his arms around you while you weep. Seasons come and go, and if the fist of life has smashed you into a million broken pieces, God will pick each one up and make you into something even more beautiful than you ever could have imagined.