Faith along the way

Brokenness. Shattered. Fractured. Reduced to fragments. Ruptured. All are definitions of brokenness by dictionary.com. What happens when we experience brokenness? Brokenness…those times when our hearts feel shattered, our emotions feel fractured, our world is torn apart, everything feels out of order. God gave me these words a few years ago and I’ve been thinking about them lately and I want to share the illustration He used to teach me a lesson about brokenness.

God used the snowman in the picture to teach me a valuable spiritual lesson. He was broken in pieces at a Christmas event, and I chose to take him home with me. Several friends didn’t understand why I would want it. My sweet husband painstakingly helped me glue the many shattered pieces together all the while wondering why I didn’t discard it. At first glance you can’t see the cracks and glue, yet if you look closely, you can see them. What you also see is his light shining brightly.

This is a picture of brokenness and how our God can painstakingly put us back together with love and tenderness, and how our light can still shine brightly through the cracks, the brokenness, the hard times. Maybe, just maybe, someone won’t see the cracks. Maybe they will just see the brilliant light shining through. Maybe they will be encouraged that they too can shine brightly through the cracks, through the damage, through the fragments, through the shattered and delicate pieces that seem to just be holding together by a hope and a prayer.

Our great God is a God who restores: to bring back into existence; to use; to bring back to a state of health, soundness, or vigor; to reestablish. * Brokenness is for a season, though it is often quite painful. Mr. Snowman is one of my favorite Christmas decorations because he reminds me that God holds me together when I can’t do it on my own. I hope this encourages you in some way. May God strengthen you during those times of brokenness and may your light shine brightly through the cracks.

Blessing to you,

Jackie

*Dictionary.com