Today Isaac wondered in with his broken lawn mower and its broken steering wheel. He must have found them lying around somewhere and wanted to reunite them together. Of course, I’m always astonished that he can keep track of broken parts of his toys, knowing they still have meaning and a purpose.
I love that he still plays with his broken toys. He has about four tractors that are missing their front wheels because he has been too rough with him in his little boy way. Nevertheless, he cherishes every single one of them and loves looking at them from different angles, seeing all the interesting things beneath their surfaces that another child of his age (or even adult) might not even notice. He studies them and recognizes them beyond their perfect state. He actually enjoys when they fall apart so he can see inside to the heart of the mechanism and get to the root of what's wrong.
But sometimes, he has to call for help. "Daddy, can you fix this for me?"
Dear sister, are you calling on the Lord today as you face your trial? You don't have to face it alone. We need his help. God truly sees who we are in all of our brokenness. He works with our broken parts; He doesn't discard them. He uses them in ways we often can't understand in the moment when we're facing affliction. But all throughout the bible, there is evidence that God uses broken people to build on his Gospel story.
Take Paul for example. I can't help but think about the joy that radiates from his words when he wrote to the Philippian Church in chapter one. While he was living out what most would consider a nightmare in prison, he penned his gratitude first. He thanked God and then reminded the Philippians that he "holds them in his heart." What a perfect reminder that we will suffer on this earth (Phil. 1:29), but we can do so with joy, thankfulness, and hope. God doesn't promise us an easy journey, but he does promise us that He will go through it with us, give us grace to sustain us, and supply us with his Spirit to lead and comfort us.
And those broken parts? The missing pieces? The scars in our hearts and minds? They strip us of ourselves, sanctify us into a more humble and Christlike servant, and remind us of God's Gospel of Grace and what has yet to come (v.6). Paul couldn't wait to see Jesus, but while he remained on earth, he chose to stay joyful, knowing he was advancing the Gospel.
We're human, though. We live in a culture of trusting our feelings and taking what we see at face value. We often take everything we see and feel as truth. This leads to us taking things into our own hands, and sometimes, this just makes a bigger mess of things.
Don't give up: Today we can rejoice because the Gospel is never broken.
Like that broken toy, mistakes, faulty expectations, missed opportunities, life's disappointments, and heartaches chip away at us, breaking our spirits down to where we feel like God is so far away. We question his goodness. We wonder if he has even heard our prayers.
But God hears us. He sees us for who we were, what we are, and who we will become all in the grand context of his grand story. He knows we're broken in need of a master craftsman to reshape and piece us back together in his perfect manner called sanctification. That's all a part of his plan!
Will we be able to finish this life like Paul, doing our best to glorify and honor God with boldness, courage, and eagerness? Will we remain hopeful and obedient to his Word in the face of tribulation? Will we consider the generations who follow us? Will we choose to see the beauty in the broken?
Maybe you're beginning to see how God has been able to use your broken pieces. Maybe you're just in the beginning stages and still waiting to see how any good can come through your pain.
We have no idea how God will use our broken pieces for his glory, but we trust in his goodness and sovereignty, and we can wait with joy and assurance that God will use the broken, keep his promises, and carry us through.
Rejoice in your brokenness!
"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4: 16-18)
