Ok...All of us have experienced a broken heart at one time or another. As children, we experience pain but mostly in simple ways; as adults, our hearts are tested through trials and many times our heart can feel shattered, or maybe even crushed down to the deepest part of our soul.
Surely we can ALL understand how the psalmist (David) felt when he wrote, “I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded deep down inside me (Psalm 109:22).”
So what do you do when your heart is broken? When things aren't what you had hoped for – When it truly seems as if your dreams have crumbled? You know...when LIFE happens.
Your heart may grow weak, but for those who know Christ as Savior...God is your strength. He really is everything you ever need (Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever). So what does this MEAN? Well it means this: God stands ready to help those who need it (Psalm 109:31)! I love that! I love that His Word is true, real, ALIVE and active! God's not sitting back like the rest of us, easily distracted, overwhelmed by our brokenness. So thankful that I serve a God who stands ready to help in time of need.
What lead to this blog is the following . . . I noticed something on a friend's facebook page today. I'm familiar with both the quote and the process . . . (Although the owner/author of the quote was misrepresented; this quote is actually attributed to artist, Barbara Bloom)
“When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.” -Barbara Bloom
I love when the Lord speaks to me through others. Let's be real here...I love when the Lord speaks to me ANYTIME or place, but it's STILL amazing to me, how He can and does find ways within my daily routine to grab my attention.
I'm a chic who looks things up; even if I know "what it means" I like having the definition in front of me so there's NO misunderstanding or communication. So check this out . . .
Aggrandize means to make great or greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor — to enhance the power, reputation or position of. The broken object is repaired with a precious substance which enhances its strength and purpose. In the Japanese culture this means, the repair (the evidence of the brokenness) magnifies the beauty of the object.
In your brokenness, give God permission and freedom to put your heart back together. PLEASE STOP AND TAKE NOTE HERE...you MUST...MUST give the Lord permission to do His work. We serve a God who can do ANYTHING, but has given us free will. This means exactly what the old saying says...you literally have to "Let go, and Let God."
Here's the COOLEST part of all...He's ready to do this with every resource available in heaven at His disposal. Did you get that? No...seriously. Read that again. He's ready to help you with every resource available in heaven at His disposal. As His Spirit and Truth is used to fill in the damage, you'll become even more beautiful and valuable to Him. Your brokenness doesn’t scare God at all. *stops to do a MAJOR happy dance* LOL In fact, His desire is to bring people into your life, bring TRUTH to your heart and bring praise to your lips to help repair the damage! If somebody doesn't get up and shout His praises right now . . . MAN that's good stuff!!!!!
Don’t minimize His power. Don’t diminish His authority. Exalt His power in your life and become the beautiful person He's intended you to be. So...stop it. That's right. Stop it! The more you get in His way, walking around like you control things or feeling sorry for yourself the LONGER it's going to take! TRUST ME...I've been around the mountain 5,642 times and the only thing that changed was the people I passed along the way.
I'm 41 . . . and I'm FINALLY getting it. I actually didn't realize how much the Lord has healed me until seeing my friend's post and reflecting a bit (which obviously led to this blog). So cool when the Lord reveals things and we have REAL revelation. Now that I'm allowing for the process . . . I get to look and be more fabulous. Thank you, Father for taking the clay and adding some serious "bling" . . . y'all know how I feel about fashionable flourish.
Decide to let go today...trade ashes for Glory. It's just so much more attractive. ;)
