Beauty from Brokenness
During a recent trip to Vancouver Island, I collected a few pieces of sea glass (also called beach glass). Most of the pieces I collected were small clear or brown bits, but I did pick up a few blue and green fragments.
Sea glass starts its life as broken bits of bottles and other discarded glass. It’s glass that, for whatever reason, is no longer useful and thrown away. Over time, water and erosion polish it into something refined and beautiful.
People collect sea glass to make crafts and jewelry, or simply because of its color. It can come in any color of the rainbow, depending on what color glass it started as.
It fascinated me because something broken and discarded can end up so beautiful. It reminds me of Christians.
Before we become believers, we are anything but beautiful. We were created in God’s image but have been marred by sin and the knocks of life. We often feel discarded and purposeless.
God takes the broken bits of our lives and, out of love, gives us the gift of faith to become believers. We are born again and adopted into God’s family. We still have polishing and repair work to do in this life, but He works on us, conforming us to the image of Christ.
He doesn’t do that because we deserve it. We could never get our acts together to warrant salvation. He does it out of love, purchasing us with His own shed blood. When a sinner is saved, it truly is a miracle.
Throughout the Scriptures we see declarations that God saves the discarded and broken
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; Isaiah 61:1-2 ESV
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:13 ESV
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 ESV
The circumstances of your life may have left you feeling broken and discarded. Others might have rejected you, but God loves you beyond measure. He will make something beautiful from you and the mess of life.
Trust in Him and rejoice.
Be blessed,
Kevin
SUMMARY
I found beauty in broken sea glass on a beach on Vancouver Island. It reminded me that God takes the broken and discarded and makes them new through faith.
TAKEAWAY
Sea glass starts out as broken, discarded trash before years of water and erosion make it beautiful.
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