"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4
It's been a minute, hasn't it? Here I am, several months since my last blog, and the reason is simple: I just didn't feel like writing. Hmm. If I only did things I feel like, I would've eaten Hayes Barton Cafe peanut butter pie (or any form of Hayes Barton Cafe cake, for that matter) for breakfast...and lunch...and, of course, dinner, because, well, duh, it's Hayes Barton cake! But since I need to choose to do what I know to be right (and beneficial), I'll save the cake for dessert after dinner, and instead get busy doing what God's called me to do right now. Faith over feelings.
It''s been a challenging few months. Normally, fall is my favorite time of the year, but this year has had more than its share of losses and sorrows. Dear friends losing a beloved child. Others losing a precious parent. Painful losses in our family that have cut deep and hard. Constant reminders these past months that we live on a broken planet, and we will all suffer from that brokenness, loneliness, sadness.
But God.
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Gen.50:20. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my potion forever." Ps.73:26 "But God raised him from the dead..." Acts 13:30 "...but God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5:8 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” Eph.2:4-5
But God takes our brokenness and turns it into beauty. As I read recently in a blog, "In His timing, He will take all our grief, failures, and fears and paint them into something wildly beautiful. He's in the business of it. Beauty alone is worthy to behold, but beauty from brokenness is far more compelling." Oh my, isn't that the truth? It's suffering that ultimately produces the beauty of depth of character, strength, sweet empathy, kind compassion, deep gratitude.
None of us would ever choose to suffer, would we? But oh my, how God uses it in our lives. I'm already seeing some of that beautiful fruit of brokenness. It's hard-won growth to be sure, but I trust and know that our Heavenly Father loves us beyond all imagining, and all His ways and plans are for our ultimate good and His glory. So we can trust and rest in Him.
In fact, fall, itself, depicts this truth. Look around at the astounding colors of the leaves--startling crimson, brilliant orange, sunny yellow. Seriously. Pause and notice the trees for they won't be with us much longer. Soon those branches will be bare and brown. But for now, wow, stunning! And don't forget to take a moment and give God thanks for creating such beauty.
But those lovely colors come from the death of the leaves. As those leaves prepare to die and fall to the ground, they allow the beautiful colors to shine through.
From brokenness comes beauty.
From sorrow comes steadfastness.
From a cross comes a crown.
That's what God does and who He is. He makes all things, all things new. And He is even now, making all things beautiful in His time...even that hardest, most perplexing, most challenging difficulty in your life. Trust Him with your brokenness and know that His finished masterpiece will be beautiful beyond all imagining.
Thank You, Father. To You be all the glory.
