Beauty in the Broken

"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."   Psalm 34:18

Today was a particularly "broken" day for me.  This is hard for me to admit because it always seems to unimportant. See my brokenness doesn't always manifest from the death of a dear friend or loved one, its not brought on by the loss of a job, in fact everywhere I look I can see so many other souls who have much more dire needs and reasons to be broken than I do.  Therefore, I convince myself that by stuffing my emotions away from Everyone, including Jesus, that I am practicing a very Godly form of compassion.  Why should I bother Jesus with my petty unexplained emotional breakdowns when there are so many other souls who need him much more than I do? 

But wait, is my God not omnipresent? (Psalm 33:13-14) Does he not love ALL of us? (John 3:16)

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" Psalm 51:17

YES! We did read that correctly, "A" broken , not "some" broken, not "badly" broken, "A" broken as in "any" and "all" broken hearts, for whatever reason we may be hurting he will not turn his back on us!!! 

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Phil 4:4-7

 And THIS is what he showed me ever so bluntly, right in the middle of my long drive, the drive I considered pausing because I felt so broken, alone, and useless that my window of sight was blurred by a rush of tears! 

Just as I felt completely useless to God, and anyone else for that matter, he took my mind back to a quote from a book I had read just this morning-

"Even something that appears broken, in the hands of a master artist, can be made into something more beautiful than the original" - Angel Song by Sheila Walsh & Kathryn Cushman

See, MAYBE, what I was going through isn't so petty after all! MAYBE, my pieces were finally being completely shattered allowing the master artist to start piecing them back together again! As if the recollection of a subtle quote wasn't enough to get His point across, what happened next, could not be denied, no discernment was needed! As if on qu, the words streaming through the radio (a sound that had nearly evacuated my mind) might as well of been the voice of Jesus himself.  Then again, maybe it was...

Let me hold you through it

Let me carry you

I know it feels you're at the end

But here your story is just beginning

And I know your tomorrow

I know where you are

Though you can't see past the moment

I see beauty in the broken

So let the pieces of your heart fall into my arms

I want to be your hope so won't you let me

So let the pieces of your heart fall into my arms

I want to be your hope so won't you let me

Hold you through it

I see beauty in the Broken

- From "Beauty in the Broken" by Hyland

Lets return to Philippians to make sure this is a message straight out of God's word...

Rejoice in The Lord always... 4:4    - Despite ANYTHING we may be going through, The Lord is with us, and that alone is reason enough to rejoice and thank him for his presence!

Let your moderation be known to all men... 4:5  - (moderation : gentle, patient, mild, fair) No Man is responsible for our brokenness, they may have been used by the devil to contribute to our shattered spirits, but we must always remember what we are really up against and not take our hurts out on others

Be careful for nothing...4:6 - (careful: anxious, take thought, be troubled, provide for)

It is not our responsibility to be anxious or worry about what we are going through, we are not to think and dwell on the trouble in our lives (Phil 4:8) and finally it isn't even our job the provide a "fix it" or solution to our problems (hint:it's already been done, we already have the solution)

Here it is...the big solution...the only responsibility we have in all our troubles...

In everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made unto God... 4:6

Yep. That's IT! Tell him about our troubles, through prayer. THANK him for his love. But don't skip one of the most important words...EVERYTHING!!!   He will care for ALL our troubles, Give him ALL your pieces!!! Only he knows our tomorrow and we can't fathom what beautiful masterpiece will come from the shattered pieces of our hearts and souls!

"He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds" Psalm 147:3