A Lenten Reflection
Our broken stories for His glory
One of the aspects of the Bible that has had the most impact, to me, is the reality of the faults and jagged edges of the people written about within. David is a hero, a poet, a wise king...and an adulterer who had a man killed over a woman. Jacob, the man God would rename Israel, stole his brother's birthright using trickery. Rehab saved the Israeli spies...and was a prostitute. Peter, the leader of the Apostles, denied Jesus in cowardice. You get the idea....these people weren't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination.
They were flawed, often deeply, yet God used them for His glory and His purposes and they did remarkable things. The Bible is full of such men and women. People who stumbled, sinned (often majorly) and yet got up again to do God's will.
This comforts me. A lot. Because I know I'm far from perfect, I stumble, I sin, I err, I goof up, I say the wrong things to the wrong people at times...and God still loves me. He still uses me to reach out to other people. He is ever willing to forgive me when I come to Him in repentance. And always willing to help set me on my feet again, dust me off and help me get back to work.
You may feel that you have some rough edges. Maybe some stories in your past you're not too proud of. Perhaps you feel you have that dark side that no one could love or understand if they knew about it. But God does know, and He loves you anyway. God knows your mistakes, and has an endless well of forgiveness to offer you. God knows you've felt unlovable at times, but wants to show you His love, His rich, unfathomable love. He knows you've felt ashamed (we all have)....but He offers you something more.
He offers you a chance to use your brokenness, your story, your wounds and mistakes to help other people. He offers you a chance to show that even though you've messed up (just as I have, just as all of us have), you can still be a shining vessel of His glory, telling His love and mercy to the world. When we hide our weaknesses, our faults, our jagged edges....when we present a "perfect image" to the world, we're not being authentic. We're being plastic, and plastic can't hold up to the fires and storms of this life.
But when we're real, when we're honest, and when we are centered in God, our testimony can touch other wounded souls, help other broken people. They can know they're not alone in how they feel or what they've gone through. And they can know that God loves them, because He's already demonstrated His great love to you, and to I, and to David, Peter, Rehab, Jacob and the myriad of other men and women who have held onto Him in faith.
God's not afraid of our brokenness, and when we bring it to Him, He can make us whole. He's not afraid of our messed up stories, He can use those very examples to show how He transformed us and made us into new creations. And when we bring our dark sides to Him, He can fill us with His light.
How can you use your story to help others? Will you?
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Haynes Butler
Our broken stories for His glory
One of the aspects of the Bible that has had the most impact, to me, is the reality of the faults and jagged edges of the people written about within. David is a hero, a poet, a wise king...and an adulterer who had a man killed over a woman. Jacob, the man God would rename Israel, stole his brother's birthright using trickery. Rehab saved the Israeli spies...and was a prostitute. Peter, the leader of the Apostles, denied Jesus in cowardice. You get the idea....these people weren't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination.
They were flawed, often deeply, yet God used them for His glory and His purposes and they did remarkable things. The Bible is full of such men and women. People who stumbled, sinned (often majorly) and yet got up again to do God's will.
This comforts me. A lot. Because I know I'm far from perfect, I stumble, I sin, I err, I goof up, I say the wrong things to the wrong people at times...and God still loves me. He still uses me to reach out to other people. He is ever willing to forgive me when I come to Him in repentance. And always willing to help set me on my feet again, dust me off and help me get back to work.
You may feel that you have some rough edges. Maybe some stories in your past you're not too proud of. Perhaps you feel you have that dark side that no one could love or understand if they knew about it. But God does know, and He loves you anyway. God knows your mistakes, and has an endless well of forgiveness to offer you. God knows you've felt unlovable at times, but wants to show you His love, His rich, unfathomable love. He knows you've felt ashamed (we all have)....but He offers you something more.
He offers you a chance to use your brokenness, your story, your wounds and mistakes to help other people. He offers you a chance to show that even though you've messed up (just as I have, just as all of us have), you can still be a shining vessel of His glory, telling His love and mercy to the world. When we hide our weaknesses, our faults, our jagged edges....when we present a "perfect image" to the world, we're not being authentic. We're being plastic, and plastic can't hold up to the fires and storms of this life.
But when we're real, when we're honest, and when we are centered in God, our testimony can touch other wounded souls, help other broken people. They can know they're not alone in how they feel or what they've gone through. And they can know that God loves them, because He's already demonstrated His great love to you, and to I, and to David, Peter, Rehab, Jacob and the myriad of other men and women who have held onto Him in faith.
God's not afraid of our brokenness, and when we bring it to Him, He can make us whole. He's not afraid of our messed up stories, He can use those very examples to show how He transformed us and made us into new creations. And when we bring our dark sides to Him, He can fill us with His light.
How can you use your story to help others? Will you?
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Haynes Butler
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