-The Beauty of Brokenness-

Broken and torn though we are, God's not done with us.

Jeremiah 18:4 

 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

After doing a little research, I learned that fixing pottery is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Just as fixing a broken pot isn't an overnight fix, neither is our human stature.

Why would God waste time on a broken person who might end up not to be anything of true value? God doesn’t think like that. He rescues the 1 missing sheep, while the other 99 are perfectly fine. He doesn’t mind the scars he may get. He doesn't mind how long it takes to mend the pottery, and how much patience it takes. God sees the end result. He sees His poor helpless lambs, no matter how broken and torn.

'Until we learn to see the beauty of the brokenness, we remain broken. Oftentimes, we must become broken in order to see how beautiful God truly is. We will never truly appreciate the person God can help us to be if we do not go through the valley. Until we are able to surrender our will to God, and hand over the broken pieces of our lives to Him we will never see the beauty of our brokenness.

When I say, “the beauty of brokenness,” I don’t mean it won’t be painful. There will be times, circumstances, and even people that bring harm to you. It’s life. Those times will come when you can’t see anything different than a broken shell, but remember; God’s on the outside, working in ways you can’t even fathom. 

I don’t want to point fingers, however I have learned that it is extremely easy to overreact when things begin to get painful. We moan and complain about how terrible our lives are. I have to wonder, what does God think? I mean He spends a lifetime, pouring Himself into our lives, trying to shape us into the person we are, and in response He doesn’t even get a “thank you.” We’re too concerned with our feelings, our friends, and other things that keep getting in the way, to offer our praise. 

I used to see through a glass darkly, seeing people as only human. Their mistakes were the only thing I saw about them. Now that Jesus lives in my heart, I see people as He sees them. I don't give up on people, because He will never give up on me. I forgive, because He has so graciously forgiven me. I may not be the best example in everything I do, but I am doing my best to learn the beauty of my brokenness. I am so glad He did not throw the clay away!

I am learning to sing:

"Over and over, He molds me and makes me,

Into His likeness, He fashions the clay.

A vessel of honor, I am today,

All because Jesus didn’t throw the clay away."