Out of the Brokenness

Many years ago I remember hearing about the Royal Palace in Teheran, Iran. 

Apparently, an architect planned for the walls of the royal palace entry to be covered with sheets of beautiful mirrors from Paris. But when the shipment of glass arrived, they discovered that every mirror had been smashed in travel.  The entire shipment was destroyed, and the grand entry could not be completed. 

Just as the workers started gathering the broken pieces together to discard them, the architect stopped them.  “Wait a minute,” He said.  “I’ve got an idea!”  He then took a hammer and broke some of the larger pieces into tiny pieces.  He gathered them in his hands and walked over to the entry.  He put some glue on the wall and arranged the tiny pieces.  He did this over and over until he had an enormous montage of broken mirror pieces. At no point were the mirrors broken alike and at no point was the angle exact. 

I’ve heard that the result is breathtaking. The grand entrance is a dazzling brilliant display of prisms, reflecting light in every direction! One visitor stood in awe and described the result like this: “Broken to be more beautiful!”  

Of course, this incredible work of art was only possible in the hands of a master artist. 

As I think about those of you who connect with Dial Hope, I can only imagine the brokenness and hurt that some of you are feeling. The truth is, that every single one of us has been through difficult moments at one time or another. We have all felt brokenness in our own lives.  

The good news of the gospel is that we worship a God who picks up the broken pieces.  We worship a God who wastes nothing. In God’s hands, even our failures, our past mistakes, the tragedies we’ve experienced, our brokenness, and the brokenness of the world around us can be transformed and even redeemed.  

Let us pray: You are the Master Artist, O God. We ask you today to pick up the broken pieces of our lives and the broken pieces of our nation and the world around us. Grant us a willingness to work with you as you work within us. Give us open hearts and spirits as you shape us and reshape us more and more into your image. We remember today that you have promised to make all things new. For that, we give thanks. In Jesus’ name. Amen.