He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
It was one of those mornings, and it started early. I had a lot to do and got up extra early to get it done. I hadn’t slept hardly at all the night before which meant I was tired, overwhelmed, and emotional. I felt like I was trudging through cement trying to get things done and everything was taking more time than I needed it to. The morning continued this way. I got to work and reached into my purse for my mirror to wipe the smeared mascara off my face and try to make myself look presentable. I pulled it out and, to my surprise, half of it was gone and the remaining half was shards of cracked glass still stuck in the mirror. I thought to myself, “Well, that’s exactly how this day is going!” I looked into the cracked glass that was left on the mirror to see if I could find a piece big enough to see my face. What I saw was my face in shards. That is a perfect example of exactly how I felt that morning. Broken, jagged, ruined, and worthless – just like what was left of the mirror. I felt it was appropriate that the image in the broken glass … was a broken me.
Have you ever had one of those days? Or more of those days than not? Do you ever struggle to find hope in just one place in your life, but instead all you see are shards of brokenness all around you? What is it that makes us feel so hopeless, like a mirror that is nothing but shards of broken glass? One of the things that makes us feel this way is shame. Everywhere I look, I can find something to make me feel shame about something – what I could have done better as a parent, how I could be healthier now if I had made different choices, how I could be a better wife, have a better home, or have done something more with my life. We can find things all around us, all day long, that make us feel the cutting edge of the broken parts of our lives. Satan wants us to feel the cut of shame to keep us beat down. He knows that many things in our lives everyday can trigger shame over past and present events in our lives.
Feelings
Smells
Sounds
Situations and tragedy we witness
Conflict with others
All these things can trigger the feeling of shame. There are other things that trigger shame too, such as social media and comparison to others around us. Shame makes us feel broken, worthless, and hopeless, but shame cannot have the last word.
The world is the one that tells us we are broken, but God is the One who sees us as whole. He takes all the broken pieces of our lives – past and present – and He creates a beautiful person in us. He takes what makes us feel shame and replaces it with His love, mercy, and grace.
We are not ruined and worthless when we are broken, but instead we are ready.
Brokenness makes us ready to be used for Him to create His masterpiece in us. The shards of our lives create a beautiful mosaic, the jagged edges fitting together perfectly. Brokenness may deem us unworthy and unusable in the world’s eyes, but it leads us to Christ where the hopeless and broken can find hope.
I want to let you know that you are not alone and no matter how broken you are, you are not ruined, and you are not worthless. You may look in the mirror and see nothing but a broken you in broken shards of glass, but your Heavenly Father looks at you and He sees the most beautiful creation.
Lara Cook
