Beauty in the Broken

A couple of years ago, my family rented a North Carolina beach house for a month.  The tall yellow house stood nestled right by the Atlantic Ocean, separated only by a short pier and a couple of very small dunes, offering an unobstructed view of and full access to the shore for four whole weeks.  I was elated!

But a month before we planned to go, disaster rolled into our home like a squall that no one saw coming.  And my emotions, like a roller coaster, took a free fall from elated to devastated in what seemed like five seconds flat.  

To say our hearts were broken would only scratch the surface.  In fact, there were no words sufficient to articulate our grief.  So much of the life we had built seemed to crumble overnight and I wondered if we should cancel our trip.  

Somehow, all of the many pieces came together and enabled us to keep our plans and head on to the beach.  Looking back now, I can see that God had gone ahead of us and prepared this particular place for us in order to provide us rest and help us to begin to heal.

The sea, despite its chaotic and unpredictable nature, has always been a sort of anchor for me.  It calms my soul. I love the way it looks, sounds, and smells. I love how it is consistent and constant yet never the same.  I love watching and listening to the different breeds of birds feed on it.  I love watching the occasional dolphin tale dance through it.  And I love imagining all of the mysteries that lie deep beneath the surface waiting to be discovered.  

Other than sitting and watching the ocean, I also enjoy collecting seashells.  For years, I have scoured the shore like a child dressed in a pirate costume with a wry grin on my face and a bucket in my hand, searching for the perfect shell while enthusiastically reminding the Lord of just how much it would thrill me to find some treasure.

But this time was different.  Instead of jolly, I was melancholy.  More than treasure from the sea, I knew I needed the treasure of being with the Lord and feeling His presence as we walked together in the sand - leaving behind only one set of footprints.

Day after day, I lathered up with sunscreen and anxiously headed out for our walk, anxious to see what He may have placed on the shore overnight.  

Some mornings, I found the tide gently rolling in and out, peacefully leaving nothing much behind but a white frothy patch of bubbles that disappeared almost as fast as they arrived.  

But other mornings, the tide swept through the waters like the squall that had swept through our life, taking communities captive and scattering their remains for what seemed like miles before heading back to sea with a force that pulled the sand right out from under my feet.  Reminding myself that my house is built on Rock and not sand, I fought to steady myself, refused to fall, and carefully navigated through the rubble hoping to rescue a survivor.

There were many times when my heart jumped a little at the sight of a shell floating in or poking out of the sand, as if it had been placed there specifically by God for me!  But delight turned to disappointment as soon as I realized that I was wrong.  What I saw was only a broken piece of what was a beautiful shell. And so, I tossed it back down and kept walking in search of perfection.  

And then one day, I sensed the Lord shift the tides of my mind and urge me to slow down because I was missing something important.  

I stopped and took a long, hard, look at the broken shells that lie in front of me, the ones that I had been dismissing and discarding.  

“What am I missing, God, and what do you want me to see?” I asked.  

Then I heard Him tell me that these were the treasures that He had placed there specifically for me. 

I admit that I was a bit dumbfounded at first.  It certainly did not look like treasure.  

But I picked one up and studied it carefully.  A large piece was missing but the intense colors of purple, blue, and white which spun together on what remained were absolutely stunning.  The delicate edges curved in and out so intricately, indicating a bit about its age and perhaps a bit of what it had endured in its journey to shore.  It was beautiful.

One by one, I picked up broken shells along the beach and found various aspects of beauty in each and every one of them.  And I realized that beauty is not only found in perfection or wholeness. Many times, beauty is found in the broken.

An almost overwhelming feeling of peace and joy flooded my soul, the kind that validates an encounter with His presence and a revelation of truth.  

For the rest of the month, I sought only broken shells.  And every time I picked one up, I looked for its beauty instead of its flaws.  

I applied that simple change in perspective to the season of life we were in, determined to fight the battle waged upon us – and all future battles - to victory.  

We live in a broken world.  And all of us are all like broken shells being dismissed and discarded by the world.  

Some of us have small slivers in otherwise smooth edges which have been gently worn down over time by the natural ebb and flow of life.  

Others of us have jagged edges where significant pieces are missing, broken off as a result of passing through a season or two of exceptionally rough waters.  

And some of us have been shattered and nearly destroyed by a continual series of violent storms year after year after year.

Regardless of how broken you are, the beautiful truth is that Jesus can put you back together again. Your Savior is out searching, collecting your broken pieces, seeing their beauty, and placing them at the cross.  The cross where His body was broken so that yours and mine would be mended, where His blood was shed so that your sins and mine would be forgiven, and where He died so that you and I could live for eternity.  His resurrection proves it is true.  

We are saved by faith through His grace.  As soon as we choose to place our confidence in what we hope for (not what we already have), base our assurance on what is unseen (not what we see), and trust in what we cannot understand (not only things we can prove or explain), we become a new creation in Christ, one with Him and our Heavenly Father. Mended. Whole. Perfect.

If you are having a problem believing this truth, ask Jesus to help you.  He promises to do so.  He also promises to turn our broken pieces into something beautiful.  And He cannot lie.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Isaiah 61:3

For further study- Romans 3:23, 6:23, 8:28, 10:9-10, 10:11; Galatians 2:20; Isaiah 53:5, 61; Psalm 91; Titus 1:2; John 3:16; Revelation 21:3-5.