Broken for Purpose
Divorce, unemployment, death, drug and alcohol dependency, abuse, betrayal, bad decisions, natural disasters… every day lives are broken.
I bet every single person in this room has had their life broken at least once. Did you feel like damaged goods? Did you want to kow WHY?
Fellow Toastmasters and Guests, I assert that the brokenness in our lives not only serves to give us strength to face new challenges with courage and optimism, But it also gives us credibility when comforting and encouraging others.
I’ve always considered myself a happy person. I used to wonder why people wouldn’t just “snap” out of it when they were depressed. My faith in God was solid as a rock, it baffled me that anyone could doubt the creator of the universe. THEN… my life was broken, now I know you are curious as to how, but this isn’t the time or place, I will spare you the details, besides the details are irrelevant since each of us has our own distinct broken stories. What is relevant is that I became fully aware of what deep depression was and that you can't just "snap" out of it I also understood how someone could doubt God and even question one’s faith. I was convinced that God didn’t care what I was going through and it was apparent to me that He didn’t love me. I was very angry with Him and told Him so… more than once!
It was during the turbulent time in my life that I happened to attend an inspirational conference, while listening to one of the speakers give his moving testimony a vivid image came to my mind. There was an old plain white water pitcher, you could tell it had been well used, it had several cracks in it and there was even a chip in it's rounded belly that left a tiny hole; the pitcher was sitting on an old table in front of a window. The window had sheer curtains pushed to either side and you could see the sun shining outside. The sunlight came in through the window filling the pitcher; what grabbed my attention, was that you could see the light through the cracks and light even spilled out of the tiny hole onto the floor. The message was instantly clear to me. It’s those cracks and chips in our lives that allow God’s love to be seen through us that would otherwise be hidden. The cracks and chip or the brokenness offer proof that God's light has indeed filled our "pitchers".
Shortly after that conference I came across this painting.
While it didn’t have a pitcher in it, the essence of the painting made me think of what I saw! What I really wanted though, was a painting of what I did see, with a pitcher. Six years later I came across an artist, Brad McLean, who said he could paint the image I described to him. At one point while working on the painting Brad confessed to me that he was worried he wouldn’t capture what I wanted, I assured him I had complete peace in my heart that God was showing him exactly what to paint.
A few months later he presented me with this painting.
I was immediately amazed at its splendor, but it was not what I saw. I would stare at the painting, completely mesmerized by the vibrant color and it's beauty. I knew this was the painting God intended for me, but it wasn’t until my good friend Lia saw it that I understood why. You see, when I saw the image in my mind I was in the throws of depression and doubt, seeing the light through the “broken parts of the pitcher” was hope and encouragement shining through in an otherwise gloomy emotional landscape. This new painting, Lia explained, represented me now, healed, and full of life! and the brokenness had become part of the beauty.
These pictures hang on either side of my bed. They serve as a constant reminder of how God encouraged me in a very dark time in my life and how richly He has blessed me since. It is also a reminder to allow the brokenness in my life to minister to others. When we are broken, it’s not because we are being punished, When we’re broken, it’s not because God doesn’t love us or care about us. The Brokenness in our lives serves a purpose.
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