Shattered...then redeemed

I am so glad that I serve a God of second chances, of making things new, of making things beautiful. Can you relate? I think we all have certain hopes, dreams, ideals, and plans which we have seen slip away. Our sorrow over those things can consume us, or we can choose to lay them at the feet of Jesus and allow Him to do his redeeming work. Making all things new. God has impressed his redeeming love upon my heart today and I am really rejoicing. Some of my broken dreams are well known. Some of them have been hidden so deep inside that I hardly even acknowledge them myself. Some things can be healing to write about. Others call to mind too much emotion to delve into. Imagine possessing a beautiful heirloom vase, passed down to you by a family member whom you love deeply. The fragile and detailed glass speak to you of sweetness and purity. You treasure it. you protect it, placing it high on a shelf, out of harms way. When you look at it you smile. You hope some day to pass it down to your children. Now imagine walking in to the room you keep this cherished item, only to find it in hundreds of little shiny glass pieces all over the floor. That evokes emotions of loss, shock, anger, disappointment. You fall to the ground sobbing, frantically picking up these tiny pieces. You are desperate to glue it back together, make it what it used to be. Only you find that it is impossible. It's shattered. You don't even know where all of the pieces are. Even if you did, it would never be the same. Do you have any thing in your life like that? Things we hold onto, whether real, or simply our ideal of how things should be. Sometimes reality is the thing that does the shattering work. I am learning to stop the frantic picking up of pieces. To just sweep them into a pile and say, "Okay God, this was something I wanted, I planned on, I want back, but it's shattered. Please take it. make it into something new." What He does with it may surprise you. It may hurt alot at first. It won't look like it did when you saw it up there on the shelf every day and smiled. But He has been waiting for you to give it to Him, because He knows that it will be wonderful again. Better even than before. He never wanted it to shatter in the first place, and he wept with you when it did. Then He waited. Waited for you to bring it to Him and let go. "He has made every thing beautiful in it's time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they can not fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11 "God told them,"I've never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love! And so now I'll start over with you and build you up again." Jeremiah 31:3 (The MSG) "I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth." Psalm 40:2&3 "I remember hitting rock bottom. But there's one other thing I remember. I keep a grip on hope: God's loyal love couldn't have run out. His merciful love couldn't have dried up. They are created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God." Lamentations 3:21-27 (The MSG) Never underestimate the power that lies in forgiveness and redemption. It is a beautiful thing! Dave and I had some long talks last night which initiated the contemplation of these wonderful truths. I am so glad to have life giving words to meditate on as I proceed through out my weekend. The five of us are really looking forward to some special time as a family in the next couple of days. I'll share pictures and weekend fun soon! No vases were hurt, damaged, or destroyed by Wendi in the making of this post. Image from googleimages.com