BROKEN PIECES

Every time I purchase my favorite organic wheat crackers (plant-based), whether from Whole Foods, ShopRite, or Amazon, and open the box, there are always broken pieces at the bottom. Sometimes, the whole box is filled with broken pieces.Do I throw away the broken pieces? No! My first thought is…I paid too much money to throw the box of crackers away, so I ate the broken pieces. I still get the flavor with those tiny fragments.

Now, let us think about ourselves and how broken we were when we accepted Jesus into our lives. Some of us are still struggling with our brokenness. Thank God for Jesus, who does not look at our brokenness; instead, He welcomes us with open arms. He knows every intricate detail about us, and despite all of our imperfections, He still loves us. He patiently and slowly takes every piece of our fragments and turns it into a beautiful masterpiece.  

Psalm 51:17 (NRSV) "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise." David's life and brokenness is a perfect example in Psalm 51 and 2 Samuel 12 we see it – the beauty of brokenness.

Brokenness in God's eyes is being so crushed by the sin and darkness of the world that we recognize there is no place to turn but to Him. God still loves us despite our brokenness, despite our imperfections. He is constantly by our side, whispering in our ears, I am here for you – just lean on me and let me carry you. The chorus to the song "Potter's House" says: "You, who are broken, stop by the potter's house.
 You, who need mending, stop by the potter's house. Give Him the fragments of your broken life, my friend, the potter wants to put you back together again."

Faith Step:  What are the blessings of brokenness? "Brokenness is what God uses to replace our self-life with His desires and intents for us," says the late Pastor Charles Stanley. Its end is a blessing far greater than we could ever discover apart from being broken. Its spiritual maturity and joyous intimacy with God. Greater depth and power in our ministry to others.

Prayer:
Father, each of us, in our own way, stands before you as a person who is broken. We are broken by sin, first and most prominently, the effects of sin also break us by living in a world marked and scarred by sin—we are broken by pain, by illness, by trials, by trauma, by losses, by sorrows. We are broken. Let us truly believe we have nothing to fear from you. We can come to you small, come to you weak, come to you broken, and you will receive us. You will help us. You will care for us. That is the kind of God you are. In Jesus' Name, we pray…Amen!