“Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will.” Psalm 103:2-4, 21
The plate hit the floor and broke into too many pieces for it to be repaired. The design on it was so pretty that I could not bring myself to throw it away. So I took the pieces and glued them to a picture frame and now I have a pretty and unique frame to use.
I had a Balleek china dish that belonged to my grandmother. One day I dropped it and it split completely in half. I am named after my grandmother so this piece is special to me because it belonged to her. The town that I lived in at the time had a well-known glass shop. I took it to them and they were able to repair it for me. You can barely see where the pieces were put back together and now I am able to use it on a table in my living room.
I have another vase that I really like and someone dropped it and broke off part of the bottom in such a way that it could not be repaired. However, rather than throwing the vase away, I found that once I fill it with flowers and turn it just right on the table, you cannot see the broken bottom.
Although each of these pieces are not new and whole and perfect, I am still able to use and enjoy them.
We are a lot like those pieces. Genesis 1: 26 says “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness. We are made in God’s image and as such, are men and women of beauty and purpose. Yet, because of sin we are broken. We are broken in our relationship with God and with one another.
But God has a plan for our brokenness. His plan is Jesus. Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus repaired our relationship with God. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God takes us in our brokenness – our character flaws, our bent to sinning, our not doing what we know that we should do, our wanting to do things our way – and uses us for His purposes and His glory.
Just as the pieces I have are not perfect yet are usable, so we are not perfect yet God uses us. He uses each of us uniquely. He is not going to use me like He uses you and vice versa. What He is going to do is use all of us to accomplish His will and His work on earth.
I don’t know about you but sometimes my brokenness is really on display. I can be bossy, pushy, grouchy and selfish. It is not pretty! But, Jesus loves me so much that He takes the time to repair me – to change me and make me more like Him – and then He uses me. Know that He does the same for you. To God be the glory!!