My sweetie is one busy fella out in the garage. His newest wood working hobby is power carving crosses and buffing them to a brilliant shine.
He has a comfy lawn chair out in the garage so I can sit out there and do my writing while he’s carving, sanding, and buffing. Every half hour or so, he’ll hold his handiwork up for me to see the progress, and I’m always amazed at how wood from the scrap pile becomes breathtaking in his hands.
You see, my sweetie doesn’t spend much money on wood. He rummages through the scrap bin at various stores and spends pennies on reject wood, cast-off wood, broken wood.
In our culture, most people never give the scrap heap a second glance. We want the good stuff. We can’t see the beauty hiding under the surface.
But God loves broken things. To Him, the trash pile is a treasure chest.
Friend, if you feel broken beyond repair, I pray this prayer gift will remind you of how treasured you are by God. He will turn your brokenness into beauty…if you’ll let him.
Lord,
The word “broken” carries a lot of pain on its shoulders. Broken promises. Broken relationships. Broken hearts.
It’s easy to get so bogged down by the pain that we forget a beautiful truth. Our God loves broken things!
We are not dispensable, disposable, or detestable to You. The more broken we are, the more Your tenderness shows. Thank You, Lord!
For my sister who feels paralyzed by her brokenness, I pray she will see her condition through Your eyes, feel Your hands healing and rebuilding, and hear Your voice speaking truth into her broken spirit.
Through Your Eyes
Lord, my sister feels irreparable. Her heart groans with David when he said, “I am ignored as if I were dead, as if I were a broken pot.” (Psalm 31:12 NLT) She feels useless and cast aside.
Open her eyes, Lord! Help her to see Your captivation. You see the brokenness, but You also see the possibilities. You see the resurrection to a new life, a better life, a miraculous life! Empower my sister to take her eyes off her shambles and to fix her gaze on You. Enliven her heart to declare, just like David, “But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, You are my God! My future is in your hands.” (Psalm 31:14-15 NLT)
I think of Jesus on the mountainside with thousands of hungry people. He took a little boy’s lunch and fed the whole multitude. But before He accomplished the miracle meal, the bread had to be blessed and broken. (Matthew 14)
I think of the blind He gave sight and the deaf He gave sound. The lame He gave strength and the possessed He gave sanity. Jesus was drawn to their brokenness because He had His Father’s heart.
I think of Jesus in the upper room observing Passover with his disciples. “As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples saying, ‘Take it, for this is my body.’” (Mark 14:22 NLT) Only when Christ’s body was broken did He become our salvation.
Help my sister to see that You use brokenness to demonstrate Your power! (2 Corinthians 12:9) Assure her that “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” (Psalm 34:18 NLT)
In Your Hands
Just as a bone must sometimes be rebroken before it can be repaired, You use brokenness to bring about new strength. You use pain for a purpose. You shine Your healing light through our cracks and crevices!
Lord, thank You for being a God of restoration…not a throwaway God. In Your hands, we have great worth no matter what the world says.
For my broken sister keep her ever peering through Your lens of truth, resting in Your healing hand, and listening to Your faithful promises.
In the name of Jesus who was broken for us I pray, AMEN
