When we bought our house, there was a broken terra cotta planter on the hillside in our back yard. A good sized piece was lying next to the damaged pot. My first thought … repurpose. I tend to save everything, thinking I might be able to use it one day. Broken pots make unique planters and I thought that this one, laid broken side up, would look neat with a flowering plant spilling onto the hillside. I had seen it done. I liked the idea.
I never followed through with my idea. Eventually, the pot ended up at the dump with the rest of the broken, irreparable items that we found at the new house and a few we brought from the old one.
Like the pot on our hillside, we are cracked and broken. Some of us more visibly so than others. Some breaks are inflicted upon us, while others we bring on ourselves by our choices. Either way, the flaws are there.
I’m glad God doesn’t send us to the dump just because we are cracked and broken. If that were so, the world would be one large landfill. None of us, not even one, is pieced together perfectly. One might appear flawless at first glance, but a closer look reveals cracks, breaks, and layers that have been repaired or replaced over time.
How can we expect to find peace if our lives are in pieces?
Isaiah prophesied the birth of Christ, “For to us a child is born … And he will be called … Prince of Peace.”[1] There are many references to peace in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. Peace from God. Peace for the people. Peace for the land. Peace of mind. The New International Version mentions peace in Scripture at least 249 times.
Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, was often used as a greeting for both hello and goodbye. The word means “harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility”[2] God wants us to have peace, to live in peace, to go to others in peace.
The Greek word for peace, eiréné, has its origin in the word eiro, which means “to join or tie together into a whole.” The context here is “wholeness … when all essential parts are joined together.”[3] That is peace. It is a gift of completeness from God.
So, when we come to Jesus with our brokenness and give Him all the pieces, He can begin the process of making us whole again. When we are whole, we are at peace.
Beautiful. Jesus wants to take our damaged parts and put us back together. We lose out on His peace when we hang on to those fragmented pieces and try to assemble them ourselves.
We have to let Jesus be Prince of our pieces before He can truly be our Prince of Peace. That’s right. We must be willing to let Him put our broken pieces back together, fill in the cracks, and smooth out the rough spots. Only He can make us whole by taking our damaged hearts, shattered spirits, and wrecked lives and miraculously mend our brokenness.
No matter what we’ve done, where we’ve been, or what’s been done to us, He can make us like new again.
God doesn’t see us as broken pieces, even though we are. He sees an opportunity to refine and repurpose. He becomes Prince of our peace when He is Prince of our pieces and we are refined for His purpose.
It’s beautiful, Paula! You have taken broken dreams and hurtful circumstances, which all of us have experienced, and shown how healing, hope, and peace CAN be renewed through allowing Jesus Christ to gather the broken pieces and “reproduce” a beautiful, useful life. A life that can be even better than the old one. Thank you for encouraging and reminding us that all of us have been made in the image of God with His promise of a happy, prospering life with a good ending!
This is beautiful! Reminded me of something I read in a book by Zach Neese called “How to Worship a King” He said God doesn’t throw us out when our “usefulness” is up. He suggests, perhaps God is more interested in knowing us than using us. He used Pharoah. He knew Moses. My identity isn’t what I do or am good at. I am simply His child. Hallelujah!
Praise God. Thanks for sharing those powerful words. God loves us so much and wants a relationship with us. It truly is all about the relationship!