SALVATION COMES FROM BROKEN PIECES
By Pastor Jim May
How many of you know that life is not fair? Around every corner and at every crossroads in life there are dangers, disappointments, troubles, trials, sicknesses and even death awaiting those who are traveling. We are often caught unaware as a bird is caught in a snare or as a rabbit in a trap. We are just going along, doing fine, when everything suddenly changes. One minute we are enjoying life to the fullest and the next minute we are trampled by the stampede of a thousand problems that try to crush us and threaten to destroy us at any moment.
I don’t think that anyone can say that they have never felt, at some point in their life, the crushing weight of the world upon their shoulders.
-the mother or dad who is left with the full responsibility of training up the children through the loss of a spouse
-the laborer on a job who is suddenly left unemployed with no prospects for work or an income waiting in the wings
-that one who is taken in an illness that changes their whole quality of life
-those who have lost a close loved one to a tragic accident
-On & On it can go. There are as many stories of the crushing weight of the world upon us as there are people in the world.
As a result of sin that has entered into the heart of every man through Adam’s fall and through our own rebellion against God’s Law, all of us are susceptible to being shipwrecked on life’s troubled seas. Whether we serve the Lord, or we serve the Devil, those troubled times will come. None of us like those times to come. None of us want to face the storms of life, but we all know that there is no escaping reality.
In Job 14:1-2 we see that Job has arrived, through all of his suffering at one immutable conclusion when he says, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not."
I wish I could tell you that you will not have to face any more of life’s storms and that from the moment you receive Jesus into your heart, that life will be nothing but smooth sailing until, one day, you will just simple sail into the sunset on a tranquil sea in this life and right into Heaven’s harbor without pain, suffering, worry, fear or doubt. I wish I could tell you that, but I can’t. What I can tell you is that, even though the storms will surely come, there is still reason to rejoice. In the midst of the storm your heart can be made to sing for joy. In the midst of trouble you can sleep in perfect peace. In the midst of trials you can lift up your head in hope. In the midst of suffering you can rest in confidence that everything is going to be all right.
How can that be? What power can give that kind of peace, joy, confidence and hope?
There is only once source for that kind of power. It’s found in serving the Lord Jesus Christ and allowing Him to be the captain of your soul, guiding you through life’s stormy seas.
To begin with, we can’t even receive Christ into our hearts without coming to a place of brokenness before Him.
David knew the pain of suffering in the stormy seas of life. Many of the storms that beset him were self-induced through his own acts of sin against God. But David also knew where to go, and whom to go to, in order to find peace when the storms began to overwhelm him.
Psalms 34:15-19, "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them"
David always had to come to a place of brokenness before God before he could find the answers he needed to badly. Sometimes God had to almost let him drown in his sin before David would finally lift up his eyes toward Heaven and cry out for the mercies of God.
The same is still true today for all of us. How far down into the depths of sin must we often go before we finally realize that there is really only one answer, only one source of real help and only one person who can deliver us from the evil that tries to destroy us. That person, of course, is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There is no hope outside of His sacrifice upon the cross for our sin. His precious blood, washing away our sin, lifting us out of the pit where we have placed ourselves, is our only hope. Thank God there is hope through the Son of God, who through His mercy and grace, can me rise above the storms.
Like Peter on the Sea of Galilee, I can step out in faith, with calm assurance, that somehow Jesus will bring me through. I may be able to walk on the water like Jesus and like Peter, but most often I find it hard to keep my eyes on Jesus because of the winds and waves of the storms that come against me. I find myself sinking; going down once, twice and then for the last time, then Jesus lifts me up and leads me on to face another day.
Even though King David’s life was filled with broken pieces, God still brought him through. And we all know of Peter’s life. He was continually reacting in carnal ways and Jesus had to often chastise him, leaving Peter’s spirit broken and his heart heavy. But through the broken pieces of Peter’s life, Jesus brought him to a glorious reward. Peter was changed, and was saved, because of the broken pieces in his life. It was those times of being broken, then mended by the Spirit of God, then being broken again, and mended again and again, that God brought both David and Peter to a glorious end.
That’s the way your life has been until now, and that’s the way it’s going to be until the day that the Lord calls you home. We will all come to the place where we must be broken, shattered by the mercy of God, as He reveals the sin and weakness within us, showing us where we are missing the mark. Then we have to confess to God that we are in need of forgiveness, time and again. It’s through the shattering, and the brokenness, in the valley of weakness, that we really are made strong through the Blood of Christ. Each time, he lifts us up once again, just a little stronger than we were before. Each time, he restores our soul, and brings us one step closer to home. Each time, one more flaw in our character is revealed, dealt with, corrected and forgiven.
Paul had weaknesses too. He confessed some of them to us in several places in the Bible. He begged God to take away some of his weaknesses but look at what God said to him and what Paul finally concluded for himself in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
Paul knew what it was to be saved because of broken pieces! Over and again he was broken. He was shattered on the Road to Damascus by the blinding light of God’s holiness. Blinded, broken, confused and wondering what would happen next, he was led to the street called Straight and for three days he waited. Then God sent Ananias to him and Paul received the Holy Ghost and began to walk in the paths of righteousness. God had taken those broken pieces of Paul’s life and remolded them into a vessel that could be used for the Kingdom of God.
Paul was beaten many times, cast into prison on a number of occasions, left for dead a few times, as he preached the gospel and served the Lord with all his heart. Time and again he was left as nothing but broken pieces. But God would come to Paul’s side, put the broken pieces back together again, lift Paul up and send him on his way one more time.
That’s the way God works in all of us. Time and again, my life has come to the place where I feel like I’m nothing but broken pieces. There is nothing of value for me to give anymore. I’ve failed God miserably. I’ve said things or done things that bring sorrow into my heart. I’ve felt imprisoned by sin and shame. I’ve felt like I’m going to drown in the depths of sorrow. Then Jesus comes, and makes me whole again, forms me into a better vessel than before and the process begins again. Little by little, day by day, one broken piece at a time, He is bringing us to a better place; making a better you, and creating a more useful vessel for His purposes.
Illustration:
There is a village is the Far East that, through the centuries, was known for its exquisite pottery. Especially striking were its urns; high as tables, wide as chairs, they were admired around the globe for their strong form and delicate beauty.
Legend has it that when each urn was apparently finished, there was one final step. The artist who made it would shatter it -- and then put it back together with gold filigree.
An ordinary urn was then transformed into a priceless work of art. What seemed finished wasn’t, until it was broken.
So it is with people! Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, they can become disappointed and bitter. But when mended by a hand of infinite patience and love, the finished product will be a work of exquisite beauty and effectiveness; a life that could only reach its fullest potential after it was broken.
If you feel broken remember that you are a work of art! And you may not actually be complete until the pieces are reassembled and bonded with a golden filigree of love.
Sometimes it’s hard to see the Hand of God working as Potter works with the clay upon the wheel. We can only feel the pressure that brings about the reshaping and changing that must come. We can sense the spinning around in circles and we don’t seem to be going anywhere but in circles. We feel the pain of change as we are thrown down hard, time and again, upon the potter’s wheel. We know that something is happening but we don’t know what. We know that we are changing, and that forces beyond our control are shaping us into something more than we are now. But in all of this all we can do is have faith. Faith in the fact that the Potter knows what he is doing and that somehow all things will work out for our good, just as He has promised.
We don’t have a choice in the kind of vessel God wants us to be. He only gives us a choice of whether we really want to be a vessel for His use or not. Once we surrender our will to His, the finished product is up to Him. Our part lies only in allowing the Potter to mold us and to remain faithful through the process.
I’m sure that there were times in Paul’s life when he wondered what God was up to. Why is this happening Lord? I know you have some great purpose for me. I know that I am in the perfect will of God. You are using me, leading me and shaping me into your own image.
2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
Isaiah 28:10 says it this way, "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little…"
In Acts chapter 27, Paul is on his way to Rome to appear before Caesar. This would be his last journey and his last opportunity to suffer for the cause of Christ. He had traveled many roads, suffered many times, and now the Potter was taking him through one final time of broken pieces. Maybe he was expecting smooth sailing to Rome. This would be his final port of call in this life. The next shore he expected to see was Heaven’s shore. But God had other plans. He wasn’t through yet.
In the midst of the journey, Paul suddenly found himself in a terrible storm. I’m sure that he would rather have not been there. Yet he had learned, through the “School of Hard Knocks”, to trust God in every storm.
The ship was tossed by the winds and the waves. Everyone on board was fearful for their lives. For many days the ship was battered and broken and it seemed that all hope was lost.
Have you ever felt like, “That’s It; It’s Over; There’s no way out; I don’t see how this could possible be worked out for my good? God, are you sure this is supposed to be happening to me? I just don’t see how you could allow this to come upon me!”
God is bringing you to a place of absolute trust, absolute faith and absolute victory – but you can’t see it happening. All you know is that you feel like there is no way out of this mess. God is breaking up your ship and the storm is ripping your spirit, your soul, your heart and shaking the very foundation of your life, and all He says is “Trust Me”! That’s the hard part. You will never really know why or how God is working until the time of molding and testing is over.
At those times it seems that it would be easier just to bail out and swim for shore. Everything in you wants to get out of this storm. You will try everything you can to solve the situation yourself. Far too many Christians take themselves off the Potter’s wheel and forsake the church, leave God behind and try to make it on their own. And quite often, the storm may seem to go away for a while because the devil loves to deceived us into believing that we can make it on our own.
But like Paul said to the Centurion in Acts 27:31, "… Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." Your only hope is to stay on the Potter’s wheel, or to not bail out and jump ship. The only way you can experience God’s best is to go through the storm and come out the other side through the power of God. You can either allow God to complete the work in you now, or you will have to face it again down the road because the process must be completed.
The ship that Paul was riding on eventually ran aground on some rocks and was shattered. Once again Paul found his life and destiny depended upon broken pieces.
Acts 27:44, "And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land."
The boards were just different broken pieces along with the rest for it was all part of the same ship. The broken pieces meant their salvation in the end. Paul’s life was saved because of broken pieces and so will yours.
Your brothers and sisters in Christ are all facing the storm just like you are. Every one of us has his own “cross to bear” in this life. What I must do may be different from what you must do, but we all have a job to do for the Lord.
And don’t ever think that those who serve the devil don’t have to face the storms. Their storms are just as bad, just as strong, just as dangerous as the ones we face in living for the Lord. The big difference is that Jesus will bring us through our storm but the devil wants the storm to destroy you so he does nothing to help at all. In fact he will do all he can to make it worse.
This is what Jesus had to say concerning the devil in John 10:10, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
Are you facing some tough times in your life right now? Maybe its God placing you on the potter’s wheel one more time, molding you a little bit more into His image. If you aren’t serving the Lord yet, then you need to run to Jesus as fast as you can because either the devil is trying to kill you right now, or Jesus is allowing the storm in your life to break you and warn you to come to Him for deliverance and salvation.
Do you feel like you have been broken, shattered and left for dead? Do you wonder if there is hope for a better tomorrow? Is there hope for your life? Yes, there is hope, but it’s only found in surrendering you life to Christ and allowing Him to live in your heart.
He can make you into a new creation. He will mold you and make you into a vessel of honor for the Kingdom of God. Put your trust in the hands of the Creator. He loves you and wants to make you new again.
In closing, let me read you a Poem written by Joan Clifton Costner. It’s titled, “The Broken Harp”.
In the corner, of the basement,
Stood a cobweb covered harp.
Broken now and so forsaken,
There it stood back in the dark.
No one, in the little village,
Could repair the harp again.
And, you’d never guess the music ~
Or the places it had been.
Came a ragged man a beggin’
For a place out of the cold,
He was bent and slightly limpin’.
He was lookin’ frail and old.
So, the houseman gave permission.
He could sleep upon the floor
Of the basement, where was kept
The harp - with melody no more.
Soon, the house was filled with music!
’Twas as sweet as angels bring.
And, the household came a-runnin’,
Just to see the vibrant strings!
Dusted now, it stood in beauty.
Every web was cleared away.
And, the ragged man was singing
Very softly as he played.
In his song, he told the story
How he’d made that harp, when new.
Since he’d made its first beginning,
Fixing wasn’t hard to do.
Dear friend, if you are needing
Just a touch from God above,
Just remember Who has made you.
He can "fix" you with His love.
He can fill the empty corners
Of your heart with song anew.
He can take each day and make
A special melody for you!
He can fix the broken pieces,
Better even than before,
And open wide the storehouse
Of His blessing evermore!
If you feel shattered, broken and under the pressures of life, and your life is nothing more than just broken pieces, it just mean’s that God wants to bring you to a better place. Will you come to Jesus and allow Him to mold you and make you into a useful vessel. Surrender your heart and life to Christ and make your life count for something wonderful. He will take those broken pieces and make a new creation out of you.
