The Lord's Handiwork: Finding Beauty in My Brokenness

"For we are the product of His hand, heaven's poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago." – Ephesians 2:10 (TV)

About a month ago, I did a pottery class with a friend. I was really excited and looking forward to this new experience. Honestly, it turned out to be both a fun and frustrating experience. No matter how hard I tried, I failed miserably at creating a piece, and each time, my clay broke in half, apparently because I was pushing on it too hard. The class was about two hours, and at the very end, while everyone else had begun wrapping up, I somehow created this small, thin plate. Although it probably doesn't seem like much, it's mine, and I'm proud.

This same thing can be said of us. Like that chunk of clay, so are our lives. It's a mess and deformed. But we have a God willing to put His hands in our dirty lives and begin to mold and shape us. The greatest miracle we will ever witness in life is our very own salvation. The Lord saved and beautified us. In the end, we are still His despite our messy past and multiple failures. And even greater, He delights in us.

This year, God has broken me. Along the way, however, I've learned there's beauty in your brokenness. A prayer that I prayed earlier this year was God, place your hand on every broken piece in my life and make me whole again. Interestingly, we rarely think about God's need to break us more before He restores and beautifies us. 

There are two significant forms of brokenness that you'll experience in your life. One of them, common to every human, is brokenness from life situations and circumstances. After all, none of us had the opportunity to choose the families we were born into and the trials we would face. It's inevitable for everyone to experience some form of brokenness in life, whether because of childhood traumas, life's disappointments, bad decisions, or failed relationships. At times, we all are on the receiving end of life's bad hand. 

But then, there's a form of brokenness that only a select few decide to embrace. This brokenness isn't unto death but a guarantee of everlasting life. It's the brokenness that comes from living a surrendered, godly life. As Christians, God desires us to live in total submission to Him. To live a submissive life means that you also must submit to the process. This process is one of significant crushing, yielding, and surrender.

When we read an account of Paul throughout the Bible, the opening of the book often says something along the lines of, "This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News." – Romans 1:1 NLT

A key phrase that Paul says is "a slave of Christ Jesus," and other translations say "a bondservant of Jesus Christ." Paul can say this as a result of His brokenness. Before the Lord can use Paul as a chosen apostle and preacher of the good news, He must break Him. He had to bring Him to total submission and surrender to the Lord's will. And just like Paul, before God can use you, He must break you. There are some parts of you that the Lord must take away so that you can be a holy vessel, set apart for His use. (2 Tim. 2:21)

A scripture that I've been meditating on is Psalm 51:8 TPT, which says,

"Satisfy me in your sweetness, and my song of joy will return. The places you have crushed within me will rejoice in your healing touch." – Psalm 51:8 TPT

The Good News Translation so powerfully states, "Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again." – Psalm 51:8 GNT

It's interesting to me that faith comes by hearing, and in this Psalm, David said to the Lord, "Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness," Or "Satisfy me with your sweetness." Many of us have stopped at broken and haven't reached beauty because what we hear doesn't align with joy and God's faithfulness. Maybe it's not just what you hear but the lies you've told yourself, too.

God will turn your brokenness into a magnificent beauty that the world can marvel at. 

Perhaps your brokenness is the sickness that you've prayed and prayed about yet still resides in your body. Or it's the heartbreak that still aches and doesn't seem to disappear. Possibly, it's the dark cloud of grief that follows you due to the one you love no longer dwelling on earth. Whatever your brokenness is, I'd like to encourage you and tell you that the Lord will beautify your life and make you whole again. 

It's funny enough that the places we've been broken often happened without our orchestration. Think about it – that sexual abuse, familial rejection, or uncomfortable sickness isn't your fault. Often, these issues occur without your permission, but somehow, they can diminish you to nothing. Although we aren't responsible for the initial happenings, as a result, we pick up mindsets, habits, and ideas that don't align with God's original design for us. This is where God's molding and shaping comes in.

Suppose you find yourself sitting in your brokenness, making shame and defeat your home. In that case, I'd like to encourage you with the unadulterated Word of God that says, "To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his glory." – Isaiah 61:3 

My encouragement to you is simple, Jehovah Shalom and El Roi – The God of Peace Who Sees You, will surely lift your head up again!

As Psalm 3:3 says, He will be your glory and the lifter of your head. If your soul has been downcast, I want you to know that the Lord will give you a crown of beauty for your ashes. The places where your soul has died and your hope and faith in the Lord has diminished – the Lord will bring you to life again! Through the Spirit of Hope, the Lord will encourage you and get you out of the pit the enemy and life circumstances have placed you in. The God of your Salvation will cause you to believe again and uplift you! As the scripture says, may the God of Heaven give you a CROWN OF BEAUTY for your ashes and a JOYOUS BLESSING instead of mourning. 

I'm sure that many of you reading this have made tears your meal – breakfast, lunch, and dinner, your eyes are filled with tears, and your heart is broken. But as Isaiah 61:3 so powerfully says, may God turn your tears of despair into festive praise! May He fill your belly with laughter and cause you to rejoice over the latter days. 

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” – Psalm 126:2

The result of the Lord's beauty radiating into your life is Joy. Has your brokenness robbed you of the joy that God promises His children? Could it be that, like a thief in the night, the enemy has stolen your joy and replaced it with despair?

I want you to know – the Lord knows. He knows. He understands. He hears. There's no prayer you've prayed or tear that you've cried that the Lord has neglected. As indeed as His Word is, God has not forsaken you. He hasn't left you to the woes of life and misfortunes of your circumstances. The God of Heaven will redeem you and revive you in Joy. The Lord will bring you to the place of wholeness in Him. 

I know that the process of beautification is long and uncomfortable. It makes me think of a popular Queen in the Bible named Esther. Esther was greatly favored and had a powerful assignment on her head, yet, with all that she had, before the King chose her to become a Queen, she was required to go through a beautification process. In God's mercy, He saw fit to accelerate her process. But still, she had to endure months of beautification, months of preparation, and months of processing. Please hear me; your brokenness is for a purpose. If you had told me years ago that God would use the brokenness of my pornography addiction to empower and break others free boldly, I wouldn't have believed you.

Your former place of bondage is what God will use to break others free. 

Some of us may be a byproduct of life circumstances, so it can be hurtful when God comes in and begins to prune us. But the work of the Lord is perfect, and with your complete surrender to Him, He will make all things beautiful and bring you to a perfect end! (Ecc. 3:11, Phil. 1:6) I know it's painful when God begins to take away the toxic relationships you've so desperately held onto, address the harmful mindsets that have shaped your world, and reveal the dangerous beliefs that you cling to for safety. But this is the Lord's breaking and building.

Wherever the Lord breaks you, He plans to rebuild better than before. He won't leave you broken. He won't forsake you because of your mess. He will turn your life around – the one that man discarded and disregarded – and cause you to gain the attention of those who shunned you. The work God is doing in you may be silent and hidden now, but one day, it'll make for a beautiful display. Your life will serve as a testimony of The Lord's Handiwork.

I want to leave you with a few scriptures to hold onto during your beautification process:

• "And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand." – Isaiah 64:8

• "Let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to me. Hold me close to you with a willing spirit that obeys whatever you say." – Psalms 51:12 TPT

• "Yes indeed, it won't be long now." GOD's Decree. "Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won't be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I'll make everything right again for my people Israel: "They'll rebuild their ruined cities. They'll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They'll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables. And I'll plant them, plant them on their own land. They'll never again be uprooted from the land I've given them." GOD, your God, says so." – Amos 9:13-15