Thursday, September 2, 2010

THANKFUL THURSDAY...broken, but not hopeless

This world we live in is full of broken hearts, broken relationships, and  broken down cars! When things are broken, we just throw them away. Broken dishes. Broken toys. Broken computers. Some things can be saved with alittle bit of glue or tape, but when things crash and break like your computer modem, there isn't much hope. This happened to me recently and no matter what I tried, the only thing that could fix my computer problem was to discard the old and bring in the new.

You and I, we are not much different. We are totally helpless when it comes to our brokenness. Sometimes, in this walk with the Lord that we are on, God works in ways that will break us. He uses persecution, financial hardship, sickness, loneliness and many other trials to break us of our self-sufficiency, pride, arrogance, unbelief and selfishness. In the trails that we face, God will use them to break us of our self-dependence and lead us to conform to the likeness of Him.

Thankfully, when we are broken, God does not leave us that way! His restoration power puts all of the pieces back together and we are a new creation, one that He can use for His glory. He never throws us away, He sees the beauty and purpose in us even before we do. He doesn't discard the old, He refines and polishes us and creates in us a new spirit, a new vision and new hope. I am so thankful that I am not just some used up, broken down junk to God but something beautiful and useful!

PSALM 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

What are you thankful for today? Join your grateful heart with ours over at THANKFUL THURSDAY! IRIS is our host for TT this month, join us over there today!

17 comments:

Whidbey Woman said...

Such an awesome post! Love your analogy and photo. Happy TT!

Martianne said...

This reminds me of the story of the girl who had a broken toy and handed it to God to fix, but gingerly - with one hand still on it. Then , she got mad when she got it back into both her hands to find that that it wasn't fixed. She asked Him why and He said "because you never let it completely go." May we all remember to give God our brokenness so He can make us whole.

Self Sagacity said...

Yes, I go through many broken things the last 18 months - including a computer, and with the strength he gave me, I came through.

Martianne said...

I just noticed that you are married to an assemblies of God pastor. Would you happen to know Lisa and Craig Riportella. Lisa was a dear friend of mine in high school and is now married to a wonderful minister, Craig. I think they live in ME now... Small world if you know them!

Heather said...

Awesome Laurie!!! Thank you for the reminder!!

Joan Davis (Jo) said...

God makes all things new! I am joining you in praising Him for that today! Thanks for sharing.

Living for Him, Joan

Misty said...

I am thankful for Thursdays and finding my way to this post. (perhaps it was God leading me!) Yesterday my blog post was named "broken" and today I read your beautiful words that lift my spirit. Thank you!

God bless you,
Misty

Toyin O. said...

Amen! He breaks us, so he can rebuild us!

My Mad World said...

What a great post and photo! Thank God He doesn't through us away when we are broken!!

Krista said...

I am so thankful when we are broken, God doesn't leave us that way! He completely restores us! Love this post! :-)

Sue said...

What an encouraging post. I am so thankful that when I was broken, God didn't throw me away. Was so blessed by this.
Thank you for visiting me and for your sweet comment.

Jerralea said...

Great post! I'm so thankful He fixes our brokenness and always sees value in us!

Joshlin said...

Beautiful! You could not have said it better! I love this post!

Cindy said...

Thanks Laurie, great post. Praise God he doesn't discard us they way we discard broken things.

Hugs,
Cindy

Livinginlilliput said...

I loved your post! Ty for it!:)

bp said...

That's a great verse from Psalms! Thanks for sharing. God bless you!

Joan Hall said...

A wonderful post, Laurie. God has used many of the things you mentioned to make me more dependent upon Him.

Have a blessed weekend!