Daily Devotionals
Monday, April 29, 2024 (Mary Ann)
Made to Fly
We break a coffee cup, we throw it away because now it’s worthless. But what happens with broken people? Do we – does God – give up on any good coming out of a broken person?
Well, of course not. For one thing, brokenness has been a universal human condition ever since Adam and Eve tasted the forbidden Honeycrisp. What are some of the lines from that Danny Gokey song? “We’re all broken people …. We’ve got stuff we hide, deep down inside …. It’s just a wounded world we live in.”
So what do we know about brokenness?
Brokenness causes pain in ourselves and others. This has been on my mind a lot after a conversation I had with a friend last week. Then, I was thinking about how family hurts can travel from parent to child. Like shards of a broken glass, the broken edges of a parent’s life can (maybe unintentionally) inflict lingering pain in a child … and on and on it may go, generation to generation.
Because sin breeds brokenness, the world is full of people with broken hearts, spirits and relationships. Children are bullied, leaving scars that can last a lifetime. A marriage partner cheats and leaves a shattered family behind. Tragedies happen, failures occur, misunderstandings sever friendships, financial set-backs cripple, deaths cause aching loneliness … the sad list is miles long.
But our own brokenness is needed before God. The process of transformation begins at the cross. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 God sent his Son, who was without sin, to be broken so we can be healed.
Our part in this is to come to the end of ourselves, realizing, like King David, just how much we need a Redeemer. “My sacrifice, O God is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” Psalm 51:17
Or as Jeremiah writes (Jeremiah 15:19), “Therefore, this is what the Lord says, ‘If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me.’”
God can make something beautiful from our brokenness. Here is where we can lift up our heads with hope and praise because God never ever gives up on us! We have a God who is in the business of taking what is broken in us and transforming it into something wonderful for his Kingdom.
Brokenness doesn’t need to be a life sentence, but realizing our need of a relationship with God is a daily thing. That’s key to an abundant life of purpose through God’s transforming power.
So let’s consider the lowly caterpillar. Think little Wormy ever dreamed of flying? Not hardly, but look at it now! If God can transform a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly, think of what he can do with you!
We, Sisters, were made to fly!
Mary Ann
We break a coffee cup, we throw it away because now it’s worthless. But what happens with broken people? Do we – does God – give up on any good coming out of a broken person?
Well, of course not. For one thing, brokenness has been a universal human condition ever since Adam and Eve tasted the forbidden Honeycrisp. What are some of the lines from that Danny Gokey song? “We’re all broken people …. We’ve got stuff we hide, deep down inside …. It’s just a wounded world we live in.”
So what do we know about brokenness?
Brokenness causes pain in ourselves and others. This has been on my mind a lot after a conversation I had with a friend last week. Then, I was thinking about how family hurts can travel from parent to child. Like shards of a broken glass, the broken edges of a parent’s life can (maybe unintentionally) inflict lingering pain in a child … and on and on it may go, generation to generation.
Because sin breeds brokenness, the world is full of people with broken hearts, spirits and relationships. Children are bullied, leaving scars that can last a lifetime. A marriage partner cheats and leaves a shattered family behind. Tragedies happen, failures occur, misunderstandings sever friendships, financial set-backs cripple, deaths cause aching loneliness … the sad list is miles long.
But our own brokenness is needed before God. The process of transformation begins at the cross. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 God sent his Son, who was without sin, to be broken so we can be healed.
Our part in this is to come to the end of ourselves, realizing, like King David, just how much we need a Redeemer. “My sacrifice, O God is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” Psalm 51:17
Or as Jeremiah writes (Jeremiah 15:19), “Therefore, this is what the Lord says, ‘If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me.’”
God can make something beautiful from our brokenness. Here is where we can lift up our heads with hope and praise because God never ever gives up on us! We have a God who is in the business of taking what is broken in us and transforming it into something wonderful for his Kingdom.
Brokenness doesn’t need to be a life sentence, but realizing our need of a relationship with God is a daily thing. That’s key to an abundant life of purpose through God’s transforming power.
So let’s consider the lowly caterpillar. Think little Wormy ever dreamed of flying? Not hardly, but look at it now! If God can transform a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly, think of what he can do with you!
We, Sisters, were made to fly!
Mary Ann
