The hope of renewal

A number of years ago Rachel and I had the opportunity to vacation in Washington, D.C. We spent an entire week visiting museums and monuments, soaking in the sights and sounds of our nation’s capital. Perhaps my favorite day was the one we spent in the National Museum of Art. We spent hours moving among modern and classic works of art: paintings, sculptures and the like. I was awed and fascinated until we came to a room and what met us was a pile of broken glass. Green, blue, yellow, red, and many other assorted colored shards were strewn about, leaving the impression that someone had made quite the mess. My first thought was that we had stumbled upon a room that either was in process, or someone had shattered a priceless work of art and then run away only to leave it looking as if I had done the deed. I just knew a guard was going to come any second and I was going to be hauled away as the defiler of a national treasure.

However, as we moved forward we discovered that the shards were beginning to take shape. Each step revealed shards connected to other shards in ways that resembled familiar objects. Things that looked like fish, birds, even people surrounded us. As we rounded the corner we found ourselves in another world, a world bursting with vivid color and detail. Lively creatures floated above our heads and stood around us, beautifully wonderful creatures made up of nothing but broken glass shards.

From time to time I reflect on that room. It is the only room I actually remember out of the entire day in that museum. Somehow the images of that room were impressed forever upon my mind. I think what stuck with me was the sheer ridiculousness of the beauty that was before me. The whole room consisted of nothing but broken pieces of glass, shards that I would have gathered up and thrown away. Yet, some artist had seen beauty in the broken pieces, a beauty that was latent, a potential of what could be rather than what was. That artist had taken what was broken and created something beautiful and whole.

The longer I walk with God the more I recognize that the eye though which that artist saw those pieces of glass was the eye of God. Our God is one who sees beauty in the broken pieces, the lives shattered and ruined, lives we would otherwise discard. He sees beauty not in what is but in what can be under his careful direction. And so, he gathers what we would throw away and he begins to rearrange, to reassemble. Over time shapes begin to emerge, patterns and structures. When he is finished, what stands is something wonderful, beautiful, something broken and yet now somehow whole, bursting with life and color.

I see this eye of God, this movement in the lives of those around me. . .in my own life, and it fills me with hope. I have hope that what is broken can be made whole in a way that turns brokenness into a thing of beauty and wonder. I have hope that God sees what no one else can see, what even I cannot see: that even in brokenness there is a future. I have hope and that hope sustains me, guides me, frees me to allow God the time and space to move among my pieces.

A fellow traveler,

Blake

What’s my next step?

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of handing off faith in your family.

Memorize Psalm 23:  Psalm 23 is a beautiful psalm that reminds us of God’s trustworthy character and actions on our behalf. This week, consider leading your child to memorize this psalm. You might use bedtime prayers as a time to work on memorizing this psalm one verse at a time. As your child memorizes each verse, talk about how you have experienced the truth of that verse in your own life.

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of deepening your own faith.

Meditate on Psalm 23:  Life is difficult, but God is with us in the midst of difficult and painful situations, moving to care for us even as we experience trying and difficult situations. This week, continue memorizing and meditating on Psalm 23, a psalm that beautifully states that we have a trustworthy God with us in the midst of difficult circumstances. Consider making this psalm or portions of this psalm a part of your daily routine. You might meditate on a phrase as you drive to work by mulling it over in your heart, or you might pray this psalm at regular points through the day. Whatever approach you take, allow this psalm to direct you to the truth of who God is and where he is in the midst of suffering.