Broken is Beautiful

This year our family went to Disney World for Christmas. Yes, it was a delightful, magical time! We took our kids to Magic Kingdom when they were very young; we took them again and added Epcot when they were a little older. Now they are teens, and we took them everywhere. The wonder never changes, even with It’s a Small World! We came back through Pensacola and stayed for a couple of nights before coming home.

The first morning there, my husband got up for the sunrise and took my daughters with him. They came back to our room with several large, thick pieces of broken sand dollars. (If they were whole, I’m guessing they would be 5-6 inches in diameter with a center over a half an inch thick.) In Texas we find broken ones, too; but they are quite small and thin. So the next morning I joined them, hoping to find my perfect treasure (a whole one) by being out early.

I looked and looked, but found only broken pieces. Although beautiful in their own way, I was disappointed that I didn’t find what I was looking for. And as I stood on the sand, gazing at the clear, green sea, the Lord spoke to my heart. Why are you looking for a perfect sand dollar? Isn’t a broken one equally as beautiful?

It’s true. We tend to seek beauty in perfection, and are only satisfied once we find it. Upon closer inspection, though, what we really find is the imperfect, hidden beneath a facade. We hide unwanted curves under carefully crafted couture, facial blemishes beneath costly concealers. You name it, if our culture finds a flaw, it manufactures a way to mask it.

Broken is what we are. Broken is where we live.

Sometimes the imperfect comes in the form of personal brokenness–a heart that is desperate and at the end of itself. This is the most painful to live with, and the most difficult to hide. Natural instinct tells us that brokenness is not acceptable. We don’t always recognize it; and if we do, we often try to hide it beneath the veneer of activity and masked emotions.  It doesn’t matter if our broken lives are the result of an overdrive lifestyle or because of laziness, substance abuse, emotions out of control, or financial ruin … or heartache and personal loss.

God loves a broken heart!

God sees past all of that. He knows we are broken and in need of healing only He can give. And He wants to! When we come to the Lord, acknowledging the mess of our lives, He draws near to us (James 4:8), gives us His comfort, and begins the healing process.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. (Psalm 34:18)

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. (Psalm 51:17) 

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed … To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. (Isaiah 61:1, 3)

He has made everything beautiful in its time. (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV)