BROKEN PIECES

BROKEN PIECES

By God & Leslie

September 14, 2012

Psalm 147:3
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

One of my most favorite places to be is at the beach. I find great peace there. I find a closeness to God there that I find no were else. Going to the beach at sunrise is filled with a beauty that is not captured any other time of the day. As you watch the sun come up over the horizon the largeness of this space creates a sun of great magnitude. Dolphins jumping up and playing like kids playing in your back yard can only be appreciated this time of day. The seagulls gently surveying the beach in search for food. They too, sing in the morning light. The waves gently swishing there way upon the sand, leaving behind little crabs that burrow under foot. And let’s not forget the fragrant air that is found only at the beach. A salty, earthy fragrance embraces you as you drink in the beauty of this place.

With a bag in hand, I look for sea shells, drift wood, or any thing else that the sea might give up. A slow gentle walk reveals different shapes and sizes. I have always had a fascination with the beach. Maybe it is because I was born under a water sign. My bathroom at home has a spa like feel to it as the walls are painted light peach, with accessories like a sand castle, glass fish, and seashells. Even the candle holders have a reflective shell hidden in the glass that comes to life only when it is lit..

Fascinated too, with those kinds of documentaries like Jacques Coustou as he captures the beauty found underneath the water. The manta ray, as he gently guides along in slow motion. Even the movie “Finding Nemo” brought a fascination with it. Who knew talking fish could be so entertaining. Lets not forget the grace of the sea anomie as it dances back and forth with the sway of the water. Coral is another beauty to behold. When you find it in the store it is dead, and dried out, yet most retaining there color. But in the ocean, it is brimming with life, in and around it.

Our God is so creative!

When you see these things in and on the beach, and in and on the water, one does not think about brokenness. One thinks of the beauty that is bestowed in these. But if you look real close you will discover there are many things that are broken. If you but look real heard you will see the beauty that has been bestowed in this brokenness.

Drift wood for example, is well, wood, drifting in the ocean until it is washed up on the shore. Have you ever really looked at this broken piece of wood? How magically the wood has been softened by the sand and the seas constant motion against it. The holes that one can see on these pieces have been homes to many a sea creature. When one takes these pieces and uses them in a craft project, they can reflect quite a beautiful piece. Broken pieces of wood, now grace someone’s wall with a beauty to behold. People have taken large pieces and made them into coffee tables, or even into lamps. Left alone on the beach, broken and alone, yet when someone picks them up, they become a thing of beauty in the eye of the beholder.

Sea shells, another beauty if you really look at them. Have you ever looked at a little basket of shells when you have been out shopping at the Dollar Store? All nicely packaged in a little basket with some cellophane sealed over the top. There can be quite a mix in these tight little packages. Have you ever thought about how many different kinds of sea shells there are on earth? I would estimate, they are uncountable just as the sands are uncountable. These shells when you see them dry, at one time housed a sea creature of some kind. Some go from shell to shell as they grow, and when they do, leave behind an empty one just for you to find while strolling along the sands edge. Some of these shells when you see them are plain white when you look down on them. Some shells are on there side revealing a texture like a folded fan. Some have a spiral to them. Some are flat like the sand dollar. Have you ever looked at the sand dollar? Have you ever looked at how intricate the design was drawn on this? Only the Hand of GOD could have etched such detail into this shell. Some are a dingy gray color, while others are white with a light burnt orange stripe running through them. Some shells are so old, you can see where barnacles have taken up residence in and around there shell.

When I pick up a shell, I look for its beauty, its luster, even if it is broken. A broken shell when flipped over can reveal a pink and peach underbelly that can only be seen when you turn it over. Some have opalescence’s to them. Such majesty the creator used when he formed these creatures of the sea. A broken shell to me has great value. A shell that most would throw out or never take a look at because of its brokenness can be made into something of great beauty. When I create something, I look at many items to see how they would fit into my project. I will look at it like a puzzle piece, trying to find its right fit. When I have found it I try the shell in many different ways. I try it upside, I try it down side. Side ways and maybe on a slant. Depending on how it is shaped is how it fits into my masterpiece of a project. I will carefully look at this broken shell to see if a story maybe told from it. What on the outside may show a grey weathered look with carbuncles on the shell may show on the underside a pearl of great price.

BROKEN PIECES OF OUR LIVES CAN ALSO BE USED BY GOD !

We often do not see our own beauty when we behold our image in the mirror. We often see a weathered, worn out wrinkled person. Often with blood shot eyes and dark circles that hang like your shirt on a hanger. Some of our skin reflects things done in our teenage years that have left behind visible scars just a bit faded. Maybe the scars of attempted suicide. Maybe hidden scars from that of abuse or of an abortion, or maybe from a rape that has left you felling dirty, broken, and useless. Maybe the scars can be seen from a mastectomy, or maybe the scars are from a burn from a fire or from scalding water. Maybe your scars are from being in Military service, which left you with images to deep to dwell on during the day, yet are reflective in your dreams, altering your very existence. Maybe your scars are from the loss of a child, a loss so deep recovery seems unattainable.

Psalm 38:8
I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart

DO YOU NOT REALIZE GOD CAN HEAL ALL OF YOUR BROKENNESS?

Psalm 34:18a
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,

Jesus dying on the cross for us is a beautiful picture, for in his brokenness he reveals His undying love for you and I. As He tucks his brokenness into your heart, his beauty is then reflective in you.

This is a perfect depiction of what the Lord does for you when you surrender your life to HIM!

Luke 10:34
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Jesus came to me, and he bound up my wounds of brokenness. He poured his blood out on me as those who pour wine into a glass. He made a way for me to spend eternity with Him in heaven where He will take care of me all the rest of my days.

The most recent word the Lord gave to me when I was reading in Matthew was this:

“DAUGHTER THY FAITH HAS MADE THEE WHOLE”!

I had not yet come to this scripture when the Lord spoke to me with the above. I wrote this in red in my Bible and dated it. I always want to remember the times the Lord speaks to me with such clarity. It would be three weeks after this that I would be viewing a DVD I sent for that is about Mary Magdalene, and in this movie, Jesus says this and the words come at me like He was standing in the room. I could greatly feel HIS presence.

HIS words came at me like they were bold and with an exclamation point!

These words that were in the movie and on the screen, now became the second time the Lord wanted me to know, Daughter, thy faith has made thee whole.

I believe this goes hand and hand with the brokenness in my own life. I believe He is letting me know that the faith I now have today, has healed me from all the broken pieces in my life and that now I can stand before him, whole once again.

Matthew 9:22

But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

I hope that you can see that the Lord wants you to surrender those broken pieces of your life to HIM. He wants to use your experiences in life in such a way that they help someone else on there journey, but first HE wants you whole before him. He needs for you to relinquish your hold. Do you trust HIM with your pain? He already knows what you have experienced, nothing is hid from HIM. He can not use you until you are totally HIS, and you will not be totally His until you surrender over to him all the bits and pieces of your brokenness. He can use you, He wants to use you. I know this for a fact, because through my own brokenness, He is using me to write these story messages.

I hope they make a difference in your life. I hope these messages bring you a little closer to the Lord each time you read one. I hope that through sharing with you bits and pieces of my own brokenness that you can see how GOD can work in you too.

In an advertisement in a magazine promoting items of encouragement, this little phrase said:

Making A Difference

An old man walked up a shore littered with thousands of starfish, beached and dying after a storm. A young man was picking them up and flinging them back into the ocean. “Why do you bother?” The old man scoffed. “You’re not saving enough to make a difference. “The young man picked up another starfish and sent it spinning back to the water,. “Made a difference to that one, “he said.

Take time to today, to gather up your broken pieces, name them one by one, write them down on pieces of paper, go to HIM in prayer and surrender each one. Then ,let the GOD who forgives, forgive you, and then let the GOD who mends you, mend you. Then , thank Him for making you whole once again.

Always my love for you, Leslie