Our dining room table: I loved it and I hated it all at once. It’s a great size, a lovely colour, but why oh why did the previous owner use paint that turns to chewing gum when you wipe the table clean? The bottom line: I hated it. Every time I touched it I would long for a new table. But you see I didn’t realise its true value and beauty. A few hours of sanding (thanks to my wonderful husband) and some varnish later and we now have the most exquisite table top! Whoever would have known? Only someone who appreciates wood, an artist, who can see beyond the mess to the hidden beauty and potential.
You are not broken and despised
You may feel a mess. You know there is much potential within, but perhaps you feel like my sticky dining room table! We all feel broken at times and maybe doubt our worth.
But what if your brokenness isn’t the end?
Just as God reminded me that all was not lost when I thought I had broken my child, so too can He take every part of us that feels broken beyond repair and fashion us into something precious. You may perceive just a broken mess worthy of nothing more than rejection, but He sees remarkable purpose.
Praise the Lord, who…forgives…heals…redeems and crowns you with love and compassion.
From Psalm 103:2-3
Trust the Artist
Have you ever seen an artist at work? Sometimes you would seem justified in thinking a toddler could do better. But to a trained eye, and to someone who lingers long enough, their beginnings progress to be the most beautiful works of art as layer by layer and stroke by stroke their masterpiece emerges. You are His masterpiece. He sees more than the cracks you know are there.
For we are His workmanship (His own master work, a work of art), created in Christ Jesus (reborn from above – spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used) for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10 AMP
Don’t wrestle with your Maker. Don’t resist the one who formed you in your mother’s womb. Don’t despise the process. You are not too broken for Him.
Woe to him who quarrels with his maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.
Isaiah 45:9
He calls you His anointed, a chosen vessel fit for the master’s use. He sees beyond the cracks. You are not defined by your cracks but by the crown of love and compassion.
Seeing immense worth, your Heavenly Father gently gathers each broken piece, meticulously crafting them into a stunning masterpiece.
Hand in hand with the Almighty
In your brokenness, your loving Father draws near.
For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear, I will help you.
Isaiah 41: 13
He calls you His anointed and promises to hold your hand (Isaiah 45:1). He doesn’t abandon you, He doesn’t cast you aside. He takes what seems beyond repair and carefully holds you, walks beside you, and strengthens you as you journey with Him.
Trust Him. In His sight, your brokenness becomes the foundation of a magnificent story that will bring Him much glory.
You are of great value
The next time you are overwhelmed by your brokenness, your flaws and your struggles. Remember the one who crowns you with love and compassion. Remember how He sees you.
