Beauty in Brokenness: 7 Insights for Challenging Times
The first storm of fall comes with gusty gales and breaks loose the brittle branches and untethered leaves. I have a deep sense of my own brokenness as the leaves scatter across the yard, and a question stirs in my heart: How do you turn to God and find beauty in brokenness when life is hard?
Beauty in Brokenness
Perhaps it comes with remembering the ways God uses our brokenness.
The world around us tells us to avoid suffering, failure, and brokenness. However, Jesus offers a different invitation. He invites us to embrace suffering, failure, and brokenness.
We cannot become spiritually mature without adversity.
This truth is difficult to swallow, but God’s Word teaches us that God shapes our hearts through trials and troubled times. In this way, there is beauty in brokenness.
According to the book of Hebrews, even Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered.
Finding Beauty in Brokenness
Let’s look at seven insights about finding beauty in brokenness and ask God to renew our minds regarding troubled times and challenges.
1. When you feel broken, God is shaping you.
God will use your broken moments to show you where he wants to shape and mold your life. The secret is to keep your heart soft and teachable.
Often, God uses brokenness to remind me of the life he is calling me to live.
I feel broken after losing my patience, yelling at one of my children, or letting my to-do list consume me. In response, God uses these moments to shape my heart (to read more about how to live with less grit and more grace, join me here). In this way, brokenness is always a launching point for growth.
2. God delights in using broken vessels for his glory.
I tend to rely on my own strength to accomplish my goals. This determination served me well for decades, but it didn’t help me grow in dependence upon God.
God’s power shows up when we are weak, not when we are succeeding in our own strength.
I’ve learned that every broken moment is an opportunity to turn to God and watch for his power to be made perfect in my weakness. The same is true for you. Your weakest moments are God’s best platforms for revealing his power.
3. When you feel broken, God waits to comfort you.
When I keep my heart soft, God uses brokenness in my life to show me just how much I need his everlasting arms to catch me. He uses brokenness to lead me to his open arms and comfort me.
God comforts us in our brokenness so that we can comfort others with the same comfort we have received from him (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
4. There is beauty in brokenness because God uses brokenness to perform miracles.
Jesus used broken loaves of bread to feed five thousand people.
When we cling to what we think we can control and manage, God lets us hold on. Holding on is also what keeps God from working the next miracle in our lives.
The disciples watched Jesus perform a miracle with the loaves and fish when they were willing to break the bread and give it away. God multiplies what is broken and given away, not what we cling to with clenched fists.
Imagine how this story might have ended if the disciples had decided to hoard the bread for themselves and send the crowds away.
5. There is beauty in brokenness because it reminds us of our need for Jesus.
God used broken fishing nets to challenge the disciples to depend on him rather than their own efforts for meeting their needs.
Are you struggling today? Let your brokenness remind you of just how much you need Jesus.
We all need Jesus, and he waits to meet us in our brokenness. We were never meant to navigate life without him.
6. Brokenness often leads us to release our desire for control.
A friend once told me that the sooner I realize I’m not in control, the more freedom I will experience.
Most of us like the idea of being in control. However, God did not design us to steer our lives without him. We were created to live in a relationship with him.
God is inviting you to let go and let him direct your paths. You might be surprised by the freedom you experience when you let go.
God is inviting you to let go of the wheel and let him direct the way. You might be surprised by the freedom you experience when you let go. #surrender Click To Tweet7. God knows how it feels to be broken.
Jesus suffered every emotion and temptation known to humankind when he lived on Earth.
He then died on the cross to pay for our sins. God used a broken body, pierced for our sins, to provide salvation for all humankind.
Christ’s brokenness on the cross is the gateway to our healing and hope. Because he was broken, we can live whole and healed. Jesus took the punishment we deserve, and he wants to lead each of us into an intimate relationship with God the Father.
Has your brokenness led you to the cross?
If not, ask Jesus to minister to your heart. Humbly admit that you are broken and in need of a Healer. Receive the gift of open access to God the Father through the work of Jesus on the cross.
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The storm outside finally relents. It leaves piles of broken branches and spruce needles on the deck. As I clean them up, I can’t help but give thanks for the hidden work that happens in broken places.
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