A little food for weekend thought--
Two simple but profound lines from the powerful song, "Don't you want to thank Someone," by singer and songwriter, Andrew Peterson"--
"Maybe it's a better thing to be more than merely innocent, but to be broken then redeemed by love."
Think about that. Which would engender more love, more gratitude, more joy: to be merely innocent...or to be broken and then the redeemed and restored by God's sovereign love and grace?
Why does God allow evil in this world? It's the ultimate question, but yet...perhaps in God's mysterious providence that very evil, that very brokenness in our lives and in our world ultimately makes God's redemption even more beautiful, even more stunningly glorious.
When we're stuck in the midst of our stories of heartbreak or disease or discouragement, we cannot imagine how good could ever possibly come out of our desert of disappointment or despair. At those hard or desperate times, Romans 8:28--"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose"--can feel like a pious, empty platitude. But...
...but what if "it's a better thing to be more than merely innocent, but to be broken then redeemed by love?" What if our scars ultimately become agents of beauty, because they joyfully remind us of God's amazing grace and astounding love?
Can I give just one little example? When our daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her in a coma for two weeks, she also suffered some physical scars on her legs. The glass from the shattered car windows apparently cut her legs in several places, but there was one particularly terrible scar. A big, long, deep jagged one on the thigh of one of her legs that she still has to this day. With the passing of years, that scar has faded a bit, but it's still there...
...and still beautifully noticeable. For every time I see that scar, my heart rejoices and has a mini worship session with the Lord! I've shed more than a few tears of joy just glancing at that scar and remembering all our Lord did. Recalling His miraculous healing and deliverance of our girl. Remembering how He redeemed and revived and restored her. And recollecting how He took a seemingly terrible, terrifying circumstance and truly brought "beauty from ashes" and "the oil of joy for mourning." (Isa.61:3)
Might not our Lord be doing that in all of our hard, dark, confusing stories? Taking our scars and crafting them into masterpieces of His astounding goodness, grace, and glory?
Maybe we'll begin to see and understand when we shift our focus from the temporary to the eternal...when we stop fixating on the short term here and now and instead fix our gaze on the long term forever and ever.
As Andrew Peterson commented, "God is not merely making a new world. He's making the world new." And that means He's doing something far more glorious than wiping the slate clean and starting over. No, no, He's taking something that seems completely unsalvageable and making it stunningly, infinitely beautiful.
Remember celebrating Easter last weekend? Jesus was resurrected from the dead--praise God! Yet in His perfect, glorious, powerful, resurrection body, there was one seeming imperfection: scars. Jesus still had scars in His hands and feet and side. Yet those scars only enhance His beauty and perfection, because they are a continual reminder of what He did for us and how much He loves us. For all of eternity when we glimpse those hideous, beautiful scars, we will rejoice and worship afresh for His gift of salvation, eternal life, and our heavenly home.
Because, "Maybe it's a better thing to be more than merely innocent, but to be broken then redeemed by love."
And it is. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You for Your scars...and for ours. Help us to remember and to trust. For You are infinitely, beautifully worthy.
To God be the glory.
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