From Brokenness to Depth

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 (NLT)

Two of my favorite things were combined to make this magnificent masterpiece that hangs by my front door.

Beautifully broken glass pieced together like a mosaic on top of a gorgeous rod iron tree with deep roots.

This artwork mirrors my story.

Brokenness. I could relate to that. The shattered dreams and smashed hopes of my own life resembled those broken pieces.

The first time my heart cracked like a clay pot, I was staring at the ultrasound monitor and could not find my baby’s heartbeat. I felt crushed. Destroyed. The next time my heart was shattered into a million pieces was my devastating divorce. I felt damaged. Wrecked. The most recent heartbreak was holding my dearest friend’s hand through chemotherapy but still losing her to cancer only four months later. I felt fractured. Ruined.

Each moment had left me splintered and beaten down by the weight of my grief. Can I piece the fragments back together? I honestly was not sure, but I was hopeful after hearing about a woman who shared her testimony with a clay pot, broken and glued back together for the audience to see. She proposed that the light shining through the cracks was stunning.

Perhaps there was a purpose to my brokenness. Maybe you are wondering the same thing.

What if God’s light shines the brightest through our cracks and broken places? 

You see, a pot with no cracks or chips does not allow much light through it. However, if a pot has many of those broken places but still shines brightly for Jesus despite them, then that is a beautiful thing. 

Could our brokenness actually help us be a stronger light? 

Friend, there is something powerful about doing something physically that symbolizes how you feel emotionally. I discovered this truth when I broke my own piece of pottery one weekend in my backyard.

As I gathered up all the pieces to glue the pot back together, I noticed that there were small pieces, and even some dust, that came off with the cracks that I could not restore. I realized the pot will never be fully restored back to its original form.

We will never be completely the same again after we break. I used to think that this was a bad thing, but now I have a different mindset.

What if we are not supposed to look exactly the same? What if we are becoming a better version of ourselves through our hard times?

To read the rest of my guest post for Freed to Flourish, please click the following link.