Rebuilding the Shattered

A few months ago, my husband and I awoke in the middle of the night to a loud thud. The sound was so loud that I feared someone was in our house! Nevertheless, my brave husband grabbed his flashlight, checked it out, and returned to say, “some mugs fell.” Relieved it was something seemingly minor, we rolled over and went back to sleep.

But when morning came, I saw the travesty for myself. This wasn’t just one or two broken glasses; it was years’ worth of my collection shattered on the floor. My mind raced back to family vacations, memories of my friend’s travels, surprise gifts, and other fun occasions.

They were all there – broken and shattered on the floor.

A few weeks after that incident, I came home from work to see my husband sitting at our kitchen table. Surrounding him were shards, chips, chunks, and large pieces of glass from those same mugs.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

“Putting your broken pieces back together,” he replied with a smile.

Little did I know, my dear husband had been researching a type of Japanese art called “Kintsugi.” The practice stems from the word “Kintsukuroi,” which translated means “Golden Repair.”

In this process, the Japanese take pieces of broken pottery, ceramics, or other breakable objects and use a form of lacquer mixed with gold, silver, or bronze flakes to repair the once-broken item. The cracks are still there, but they are replaced with beauty and gold.

And there he sat, mending what I thought was too far gone. If it had been left up to me, I would have just swept up the mess and headed out to the trash. But not my man. He was determined to make beauty out of shatters.

I couldn’t help but stare.

He sat there carefully twisting each piece to put the puzzle piece in its correct spot. And when he found it, he took that shiny gold goop and put it back together. As the lacquer started to dry, shiny pieces of gold shimmered through.

As I watched my husband, I gently heard the Father whisper, “I’m doing the same to you.”

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget the power of the Lord’s grace and forgiveness. Instead of accepting that gift that he so freely gives, we feel trapped by Satan’s lies. The enemy likes to remind us of past mistakes, weaknesses, sins, and memories we wish we could forget. But if we listen to his lies, we will find ourselves shattered on the floor.

But in reality, He is making us new.

Whenever I start feeling like this, I’m reminded of Paul. He had an interesting Christian walk. And, I’m almost positive that he had some things he wished he could do over. However, instead of dwelling on his weakness or things he couldn’t change, he decided to praise his Maker!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Can you imagine what would happen if we let Him restore our broken lives instead of sulking?

He will. But the question is, will we let him?

Like my husband fixing those shattered mugs, our heavenly Father would love to come in and mend our brokenness. His stream of grace repairs that which the enemy said was unrepairable. Accept His grace, today!