Anne was a special person in my life. I first met her when I asked her to teach clay modeling to our group of campers at a summer Bible camp.  She told me about how she loved her work with clay and how she had just recently purchased a kiln to bake her clay creations.  When I asked her how she got started in her work of clay modeling she told me her story.

Her son, who was born mentally challenged due to brain damage at birth, had passed away at the age of 15, several months before I met her.  She told me how working with the clay had helped her to get through those difficult days of caring for him during those years.  Her life had been broken through this difficulty but God had made something beautiful out of her brokenness.  While working with the clay God had been at work molding her life and now I was seeing the beauty created by God the master potter.

I was delighted when Anne consented to come several times during the camp session to teach the campers the art of clay modeling.  On her first day she gave each camper a lump of soft gray colored clay and after a few instructions let them mold their little clay vessels.  At the end of the craft session we had an assortment of vases, pots and dishes of various shapes and sizes.  Anne instructed me to put them in a warm, dry place until she would return for the next lesson.  I chose what I thought would be a good place and then in the busyness of my daily schedule forgot about them until the day of her return.

A few hours before the time of her next craft session I checked my collection of clay pots.  To my dismay they were anything but beautiful – almost without exception each one had a crack.   I quickly concluded I had chosen the wrong place to store them, so when she returned I apologized for what, to me, seemed like a disaster zone.  To my surprise, Anne quietly said, “Oh, that’s okay we can easily repair them” Then mixing up her clay she began to repair each one.  As she worked she said, “You know, this is just the way God works with each one of us.  We too, often find ourselves cracked and broken and God, the master potter, fills the cracks and makes us beautiful.  We are never too broken that he cannot repair and fill the broken areas in our life.

In the Bible we read about God sending Jeremiah to visit the potter’s house (Jeremiah 18:1-6).  Jeremiah watches the potter mold a vessel from the soft clay.  As he works the vessel is marred or spoiled so he reworks it and makes something beautiful out of it.  As Jeremiah watches the potter God says that the people of Israel are like clay in his hands that he wants to shape them as he sees best.  In 2 Corinthians 4:7 people are also referred to as jars of clay in which God’s glory dwells.

It would seem to me that we are all in the potter’s house being shaped and molded.  God holds us in his hand and molds us through the different experiences in life.  Sometime he makes little changes and other times he fills the cracks and closes them up. Or maybe sometimes the cracks remain so that the glory of his presence within us can shine out through those very cracks for others to see.  The difficulties of life which to us may seem to be unfair and meaningless may well be opportunities for God, the master potter to make us into a vessel of honor and blessing.

Thinking about how God mends our brokenness, I had to think of Peter in the Bible when he denied Jesus before his crucifixion and said he didn’t even know him.  It says he wept bitterly, when he realized how he had failed the Lord.  He must have felt that his relationship with the Lord was over.  Peter experienced total brokenness.  But then Jesus meets him again at the breakfast on the seashore after his resurrection (John 21).  In his gentle and loving way he calls Peter back and touches his brokenness, giving him a new assignment to feed his sheep.  We know that Peter then became a person of influence and blessing to the early church as well as to Christians throughout the ages.  God had repaired his brokenness and made him a clay vessel that brought glory to God.

As we travel the journey of life God gives us the choice to become clay in his hands.  As we invite him into our life he lovingly begins his work of molding us and making us into a vessel of honor and blessing.  We can come with our cracks and brokenness and he will make something beautiful out of our life.  Even when we have made a mess of things, maybe by making wrong choices, God can repair and bring healing so we will display his glory.  How encouraging to think that with God we are never too spoiled, too cracked, too broken.  With him there is always hope.  With him there is always another chance.  Will you meet me at the Potter’s House?

You can meet God right now by faith through prayer. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Mold me into the kind of person you want me to be.

He promised to begin His work of molding and making you into a vessel of honor and blessing.

by Elfrieda Nikkel
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• Beautiful, Broken Jar of Clay
• Ugly to Beautiful
• Broken Fragments

The post Broken but Made Beautiful appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.”
Psalm 51:8 (NIV)

In the school of Christ, brokenness is a good thing.

Here’s why: It’s impossible to become intimate with God unless we are broken of our independence, broken of our pride, and broken of our insistence that our way is better than God’s.

We must be broken of the illusion that we bring anything to the peace talks when we seek to end our war with God; the only surrender God requires is unconditional.

• Brokenness is the last stop before we finally confess, “I can’t; God can.”
• Brokenness is the apostle Paul confessing, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Romans 7:24 (NIV).
• Brokenness is the prodigal fighting with the pigs over food. Luke 15:11–32.
• Brokenness is Joseph, still in prison, forgotten by the cup bearer. Genesis 40:23.
• Brokenness is Jonah in the belly of a whale, confessing the consequences of running from God: “I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Jonah 1:12 (NIV).
• Brokenness is Peter weeping bitterly outside the trial of Jesus.
  Luke 22:62.
• Brokenness is Jesus abandoning everything to God: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 (NIV).

God breaks us so he can use us. We can smash our pride against the solid rock of Jesus, confess our sins, and admit our need for him; or the stone can fall on us, meaning God in his ruthless, loving pursuit of us will break us of our pride, sin, folly, and independence. Matthew 21:44.

Like Jesus serving bread at the Last Supper, God takes us, breaks us, blesses us, and then uses us.

“Oh, Lord, may you hear our joy and gladness; may the bones you have crushed rejoice.” Psalm 51:8 (NIV, author paraphrase).

By Jon Walker
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• From Brokenness to Holiness
• Brokenness and Glory
• Beauty out of Brokenness

The post Brokenness as a Good Thing appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.” Psalm 62:5

Author Carol Kent lived by her Daily  Scheduler!  You might say she was “just a bit driven!” classic workaholic.  In fact, her sense of accomplishment came only when she checked off the things on her ever-present “to-do” list!

But she tells of the day when a major crisis in her life left her totally heartbroken.  And there was nothing on her “list” that could fix it!  She says,

“I discovered when you’re at the bottom emotionally and spiritually and all your resources have been used up, Jesus is enough!”

Now Carol calls herself a “recovering workaholic.”  She deeply feels the pain of others, weeps with those in despair… understands their hurt and their brokenness.

My dear friend, someone in your life needs you.  Today, put reaching out to that one friend right at the top of your “to do” list.  Show her Jesus!

By Vonette Bright
used by permissions

FURTHER READING

• Take Rest Oh My Weary Soul
• Soulful Rest
• Real Rest

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The post In Her Brokenness appeared first on Thoughts About God.

 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.    Philippians 1:6

What does God see when he looks at you?

This was the question I was given. As I sat alone, the word brokenness came to mind. My mind traveled the path of my life. Yes, many moments of brokenness and failure. After this time of reflection, I raised my head and my gaze became fixed on a stained-glass window. Unlike traditional stained glass, this window was made of what appeared to be random fragments of glass arranged by the designer to make a work of beauty.

This thought brought comfort and an appreciation that God has taken and continues to take the brokenness in my life to create a work of beauty and grace.

My part has been to surrender and be willing to allow God to work. It takes trust and humility! Trust has come from the knowledge that God really does love me. The ultimate proof is not based on circumstances but that he sent his son, Jesus to die for me. His death on the cross is like a huge billboard in time declaring God’s love. Being convinced also that God is wise beyond measure inspires my trust.

Yet just knowing that is not enough. I have had to humbly acknowledge that I am not adequate in my own efforts to address my own brokenness. I picture God smiling at this confession. God does not push his way in but when invited he has brought his creative genius to my life.

Prayer: God, I affirm you are loving and wise. Thank you for the gift of love and forgiveness profoundly demonstrated through Jesus’ death for me. Please take and use my brokenness and failures. Create beauty in all these broken pieces. Thank you. Amen

Questions: What does God see when he looks at your life? To what extent are you trusting God to work within you to create a work of beauty? Is there a specific area that you would like God to transform brokenness to beauty?

by Mike Woodard
used by permission

FURTHER READING

• Broken but Made Beautiful
• That Which Cannot be Broken
• A Broken Heart? 

The post Broken Fragments appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.” 1 Corinthians 15:43 (NLT)

In the death of Jesus we were forgiven and in His resurrection we are given new life. He breathes new life into us, freeing us from our guilt and shame and giving us abundant peace, love, and strength. It is through the resurrection of Jesus that God has opened the door for us to dwell intimately in His healing presence.

I was a broken man, bound by chains of depression, alcohol, gambling, and feelings of worthlessness. But the risen Lord helped me overcome all of that when I opened up and became brutally honest with Him, giving him my burdens and laying everything at His feet. Then I was truly filled with His peace and rest. He has become my anchor and the solid ground upon which I stand.

Through trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice for us, our old life, with all of its cracks and scars, is buried with Him. We’ve been raised into a brand new life for His glory and by His grace. We continue on, recognizing our weaknesses so that we are raised in His strength.

We can say along with Paul: “The life you see me living is not ‘mine,’ but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20b MSG)

Jesus says His purpose is to bring us life (John 10:10). In His death and resurrection He has fulfilled this purpose. Let the Father continue to raise you from your brokenness into His glory and from your weakness into His strength. Rest in the near and intimate presence of God and let Him breathe new life into you today.

Heavenly Father, take these broken parts of me, I lay them at your feet Lord. I surrender everything to You. Heal my shame and free me from fear. May they be buried forever. Fill me today powerfully with Your Spirit; raise me into new life by Your grace and mercy. I chose to come into your presence and be intimate with You.

A Thought: What parts of your life do you need to let God bury so that He may create new life in you? Take these parts to Him in prayer right now. Lay them at the cross.

by Daniel Forster
used be permission

Related Reading

Beauty out of Brokenness

From Brokenness to Holiness

Brokenness and Glory

The post Raised in Glory appeared first on Thoughts About God.