My Grandpa Webb was a pro at fixin' what's broken. Maybe I got my desire to fix broken things from him.
Actually, I don't call it fixin'—I call it redeeming.
Redeeming Cracked Pots
I have a favorite red blouse with butterfly sleeves. As happens with many of my blouses when the material rubs against the button on my jeans, a hole was worn there. It was much loved, so I couldn't just throw it out. Instead, I "redeemed" the shirt by using fabric glue to add little sparkles across it, and one of them covered the hole. Now, it's beautiful and often complimented!
Some friends turn shabby things into chic décor for their homes. I have friends who have rescued dogs and other animals, and they are much loved pets. They're each doing some redeeming of their own. According to a story from 15th century Japan, an emperor took some damaged pots with visible cracks and ordered repairs. He asked the artisans to use gold lacquer to fill in all the cracks. He acknowledged the brokenness, but didn't stop there. He understood the beauty that was possible if he redeemed the cracked pots. (Today, that practice is called Kintsugi.)
I know all of us bear the brokenness of sin. In ourselves, we are deeply and hopelessly damaged, just like those cracked pots. But God—our Creator—is also the master Redeemer.
Buying Us Back
In the Bible, to "redeem" is to buy back. God's desire is to buy us back from the destructiveness of sin and eternal death and give us His righteousness and eternal life. He loves to redeem and repair broken people, and He wants to redeem what the enemy, Satan, has stolen. Sin wreaks tremendous havoc in our lives, but God wants to redeem us from it all. We can become beautiful because of His grace—new creations to the praise of His glory. And it's all possible because Jesus paid the price for our redemption.
Scripturally, here's what that looks like:
- We are all broken people (Rom. 3:10, 23; 5:12, 19; Eccl. 7:20; 1 John 1:10).
- We are without hope (Rom. 6:23; Heb. 9:27; Col. 1:21–22).
- God has a plan to redeem us (John 3:16–17; Rom. 5:7–8; 2 Cor. 5:21).
- We have to surrender to His redeeming process by turning to Jesus (1 John 1:9; John 3:3–7; Acts 17:30–31; Rom. 10:9–10, 13; Mark 8:36).
- We cannot fix ourselves (Eph. 2:8–9; Rom. 3:27–28; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5).
- When we place our faith in Jesus, we become truly beautiful, a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17–18a; Gal. 2:20; Eze. 11:19–20; Eph. 2:10; Rom. 12:1–2).
Many times, we want God to fix our brokenness, but we won't give our lives over to His control and care. It's foolish. Maybe we don't even realize we're broken. But how else can we account for the constant "cracking" in our lives? The sense that something is missing, the pain, the destruction, and the lack of purpose?
When we come to the end of ourselves, God is waiting. But how much wiser to acknowledge our brokenness and come running to Him before that! He alone can fix our spiritual brokenness—and He does it oh-so-well.
Friend, have you brought your brokenness to God? How is He working in your life to redeem what the enemy has stolen?
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