Beauty in the brokenness. Do you see it? We can get bogged down and stuck in the brokenness. You don’t know what I’m dealing with, you say. You don’t know what I’m going through, you say. You don’t know the battles I’m fighting, you say. You don’t know the illness I have, you say. You don’t know how I’ve been hurt, you say. You don’t know…You don’t know…You are right. I don’t know yours, but I know mine. Guess what? The things that break me in life are the same as yours, hurt, fear, loss, chaos – they just have different names. We’re all living life in a fallen world. And, brokenness is brokenness.
I’m going to make a bold statement. Hold tight… If we don’t have bad, we won’t know if something is good. If everything were always good, we wouldn’t know it was good cause that’s all we got. I dare say too, if it was all good, we, being the humans we are, wouldn’t appreciate the good for long. Stop throwing stuff at me! If we do not have brokenness, we cannot see beauty. She’s completely flipped her lid, you’re saying. Stick with me a minute.
We have to live this life, but we don’t have to live a broken life. Brokenness begets brokenness. But Jesus begets beauty. What’s the opposite of broken – whole. Wholeness is beautiful. How do we see beauty in the midst of our brokenness? By seeing Jesus. By seeking Jesus. By snuggling up to the only One who can make us whole, regardless of the circumstances, the diagnoses, the pain, the hurt, the separation, the battle, the brokenness.
So, how do we get to the beauty in the brokenness? The light in the darkness? The trust in the terror? The comfort in the pain? The easy answer — Jesus. So easy…yet so hard. I promise you though, if you answer the brokenness with Him, you will see beauty. Beauty that is so beautiful, it passes all understanding. Not just Him, as in take this cup from me, but Him, as in I trust You, even when I don’t understand.
“I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree. “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.” Isaiah 55:8-9
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
Beauty in brokenness…a wife going to the kitchen cabinet, taking out the only oil she has, and anointing her ailing husband for healing. Beauty in brokenness…a wife praying blessings over a crucifix, the one she bought for his birthday, the one that will lay atop his cancer. Beauty in brokenness…the tears collected by God cried over a suffering one. Beauty in brokenness…the Christ who hangs on a cross, praying the Father’s forgiveness for those who hung Him there. Beauty in the brokenness is raw. It touches us in the very center of our being.
“Father, forgive these people, because they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
Beauty in the brokenness, do you see it? How, you say?
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
“Do you finally believe? But the time is coming – in fact, it is already here – when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have any trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:31-33
All Jesus’ words show us how to find beauty in the brokenness. All His words are inviting. All His words say come. All His words say receive. All His words say I have overcome, I will handle this. All His words say trust. All His words say take heart and look at the beauty. Beauty in our brokenness, beauty that can only be found in Him. All who are broken, lift up your face…to see Beauty.