Broken!

Shattered, disconnected, not working properly, parts separated. In other words.... Broken. If it is an object, it may be able to be mended. One of our dining room chairs was broken. One rung had pulled away from the leg. My husband fixed it with wood glue. It works fine. There are all manner of fixatives for broken glass, wood, and plastic. You can glue it, tape it, nail it, and duct tape it. It may not look as good as it did before it broke, but it is back together, and no longer in pieces.

I had a beautiful Victorian set of china from my grandmother. Ther were matching gravy boat, vegetable dish, and meat platter that can only come from that era of time. It was ivory, with muted green and tiny pink flowers , all with gold edges. I loved that set, and used it often for family dinners. Then the horrible day came when the shelf in the antique china cabinet fell, and the pieces stored there where broken, chipped, and damaged. I patiently tried to glue each back together, but some pieces shattered into china dust, and the damage was too great to totally fix. I did what I could, and kept them as a precious treasure from the past, but they were never usable again. 

Bones can be broken too. I got through a very clumsy childhood with never a broken bone. As a kid, I had friends who broke their arms, and I thought that would be cool to have a cast for my friends to sign. Didn't ever stop to think that pain would be a part of that process. Anyway, I never broke anything no matter how many times I fell. I waited until I was fifty something, and then a fall off a two step ladder, broke my ankle. I don't remember thinking, "finally, I get to have a cast!" I did get to choose the color of the cast, but the whole healing time was not fun. Being broken is no fun. For people and animals, broken hurts. Broken needs time to heal. Fixing anything broken, needs, a conduit to put the pieces back together.

I am still broken. Oh, my ankle healed, and no other bones have been broken, but sin in my life makes me shattered, disconnected, separated, not working properly. BROKEN! I was made in God's image, but with skin on, I am a sinful creature. I have given my life to Jesus, but I still sin, still need forgiveness, and still need His grace, mercy, and love to fix the broken. I am flawed, and I am only whole when I am close to Him. It is harder to fix spiritual brokenness. It is harder to mend broken hearts. God is the conduit that fixes my flaws, picks up the pieces when I try to do things my way, and patiently, and lovingly mends my spirit. Because Jesus puts my brokenness back together, I am able to reach out to others who are broken. If I were never flawed or broken, I would never fully appreciate, and revel in how awesome and mighty God is! He is the master crafter of broken pieces. I am humbled and grateful, because I am His, bumps, bruises, shattered, and flawed pieces, and He LOVES Me!