Broken things

Personal Photo: I clicked this photo of a juvenile Downy Woodpecker, clinging to the post on our balcony in Tennessee. The poor little thing was trying to fly, and it wasn't going well so far. We watched the rapid beating of his heart calm down and after a while, we looked back and he was gone. His shortcomings didn't prevent him from getting to fly, and while taking a moment to breathe might make it feel like everyone else is leaving him behind, it was the only way he was going to gain the strength to try again. We are not so different my friends, and we too can fly when we take a moment to let God in and work, and abandon the fear of our brokenness.

My heels clicked on the sidewalk as I made my way down the steps to my car, just a couple minutes behind schedule, per usual. I was on my way to work, the daylight putting some pizazz into my step, and I was rushing to get out of the chilly air and into the calm of my car. In my hurry, I realized that my presence had frightened off the gathering of birds at our feeders. They found refuge in some nearby shrubs along our driveway and as I drove toward the street, I squinted to tell what different kinds of birds had begun visiting. Sparrows and chickadees were aplenty, but when I spotted the red chest of a robin, I realized they must be back for the season.

As the days went on this past week, I have noticed more and more robins, and paid attention to their persistent hopping and fluttering. I watched one pick up just a small little twig, no doubt to take it back to build a nest. I watched another find a string somewhere in our yard and choose it as an important addition to their home. The concept of the architecture of a bird's nest, and the hunting it takes to find the right material reminded me of the value in things that are often overlooked, forgotten, or discarded. The idea brought me comfort and encouraged me to consider treasure hunting in a world so full of waste.

I have always loved anything with a story, something that had a life full of moments that simplify the day to day. Clay and I walked into our first antique shop early in our dating career and instantly I fell in love with the search to find something that I could give a new life, something that would find a home in our house. I have picked up tea pots, baskets, artwork, pottery, furniture, and more, all becoming pieces of my story, something that just needed a little love and space. I often wonder the journeys of these things, and how they ended up on a shelf in a cold, fluorescent lit shop, forgotten and left behind, just waiting for me to stumble upon it and bring it home.

Not so unlike the bits and pieces that the robins pick up, or the left-behind treasures that we choose to bring home, we too can often feel forgotten, left behind, or abandoned. We can feel as though we are too broken to love or to save. And while brokenness is a part of each of us, something we have to accept as life bruises and breaks little fragments of who we are, we can remember that God uses broken things for His glory, to fulfill His will, to fix up and love and give a home.

We are all born broken, all born into sin and struggle, which can be a challenge to accept. Striving to be like Jesus might feel like spinning our wheels, and when God's silence is the answer to our prayers, we can become frustrated with not understanding what His plans for us are. Patience is a virtue that is easy to preach and cumbersome to practice. And on top of all of this, we still have to fight the devil, his temptations, and his demons every single day. It is no wonder that our unworthiness of God's love can sometimes stand out the most to us. However, I want to remind us that our brokenness is exactly why we should seek God and His grace through His son, Jesus Christ. We are not untouched by God since we are broken, but rather we are embraced by Him because we are broken. Isaiah 66:2 tells us "All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word." Here we are being reassured that God is not overlooking us, but rather seeking us out, especially when we feel the weight of guilt from our sin, the sadness of being broken. The Bible also tells us in Psalm 34:18 that "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." When considering this verse from Psalm in addition to the one from Isaiah, we can realize that our feelings of isolation are just the devil's attempt to create distance between us and God, for God seeks us out and brings us comfort in all times and places.

Our weaknesses and brokenness might seem very one-sided to us, might just highlight our failures and make us feel alone. However, when we look to the Bible for examples of people God chose to use as vessels for His will, we can quickly see that He uses broken and imperfect people. The thing about accepting our imperfections is that it allows us to welcome God into our lives with little to no resistance. Understanding that we need Him and His glory to save us opens the door to be loyal and obedient children of His command. In this way, it really turns our brokenness into our greatest strength. Along this vein, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 states, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." This is the key to it all; God's grace is what turns us from trash into treasure, from forgotten to chosen, from abandoned to companions. His grace and mercy are what picks us out of the crowd, dusts us off, polishes us up, and gives us space in His home. God searches for us, uses our weaknesses and brokenness as chances to shine His light through the cracks so that others may see His glory, and He makes us new again.

The devil often tries to highlight our shortcomings, our inability to fit in, and our weaknesses to emphasize that we are broken. Our sinful nature is something we wrestle with daily and strive to keep at bay. Our brokenness might feel heavier sometimes, and challenges we encounter in our journeys of life might make us feel lonely or left behind. When this happens, we can remember that God uses broken things, that our weaknesses leave extra room for the Holy Spirit to come in and patch us up, and when no one around us listens to our voice, we can go to God knowing He will always make time and room for us. Jeremiah 18:4 describes this for us: "And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do." God reworks us, cleanses us from our sins, and shapes us into who we need to be in order the be the best children of His. We are never too broken to fix, never too broken for God's shaping and love. We are part of the building of God's home in Heaven, and He chooses us out, makes us new again, and is going to call us home to be with Him forever!