Have you ever seen a stain glass window or a beautiful mosaic art piece? They are beautiful, colorful, & broken pieces of glass placed together to form something amazing… We too are like mosaics and stain glass windows…
In order to make one of these beautiful pieces of art work, one must first break the glass pieces. To be broken…fragile like glass…that’s how we are in this life. We never know what will break us or even why it broke us. It maybe a person in your life that over time has steady hit and hit you with words and emotions that you can no longer take anymore that shatters you. It maybe a path you was for sure you would get to take; but something else happened. Or maybe it was a death of a loved you whom you loved more than anyone can ever imagine or understand, and it happened so fast, so sudden, and the grief sets in that shatters you. But to make something beautiful one must first be broken, just like a mosaic or a stain glass window.
If you’ve ever broken something on the floor, you can’t immediately jump up running to clean it. If you do you will leave pieces that you will later on find with your bare feet. You have to approach the mess slowly to make sure you sweep every tiny piece of glass up so later on you don’t get cut.
That is the same way when we are broken. We often times want to run away from the problem, deny that it happened, or place blame… but if you do that your leaving shards of glass behind only to be found to cut you deep and push you into an emotional attack of some sort. Instead we must “Be still”, and look at where the pieces have fallen. Then slowly allow God to sweep up every tiny piece that had fell so that when we step out in faith later we won’t get cut as bad. It will feel like a splinter instead of a deep wound.
Just like the mosaics and stain glass windows, it takes time and patience to piece one of those beautiful art works together. Each tiny shard of glass is hand crafted, hand glued, hand picked and placed in a certain way to make a picture perfect mosaic or stain glass. And that is just what God does. When we allow him to sweep up our broken heart, he starts placing the pieces back together; but not in the way we want him to- but in the way he wants to make our life look like. It may look like a mess to us, but to him we are beautiful messes. That’s the thing with art… You can never see how the finish product will look like until the artist is finish and steps away from the canvas.
God sees your brokenness. He wants to pick you up and put you together in such a way that when people look at you all they see is his beautiful handy work. And just like a stain glass window he wants to shine his light through us to show the world his colors, his goodness, his mercy, even in our brokenness… He makes beauty out of ashes…
So maybe your suffering today. You don’t know why God is having you to stand still. Maybe you think he has left you to grieve alone or to figure this one out because he’s busy. That’s not the case. He’s trying to make sure he gets every tiny shard of your heart that has been crushed by whatever it is your facing and to piece you back together in a way that is so beautiful you can hardly imagine it…. Hang in there. Don’t give up. He hears your prayers and he has seen your tears, he’s healing you piece by piece.(2Kings 20:5) And before you know it he will have light shining through you and you will be reflecting his light to show the world that he heals and redeems; even through sorrow, death, grief, pain, and more.
Be still and listen to him. He has a plan and his ways are good, (Jeremiah 29:11). Hold on to his promises and speak the desires of your heart to him like a friend. Draw near to him and he will draw nearer to you. He will carry you and comfort you- only if you allow him to. We are God’s stain glass windows in this thing we call life. It’s the only way unsaved, hurting/broken, depressed, (etc.)- people can see heaven’s blessings through our lives. He may not be finished with you and you may have to wait longer than you want to, but maybe he’s getting more glue- or waiting for you to finish drying before he shows you off to the world. Peace is coming- even in the eye of the storm. Don’t give up yet. Lean on the everlasting arms. What else do you have to lose?
~Marli
Just Being Marli 