Beautifully Broken

   The carpenter gets out of his truck and gazes at the building before him. He knows that his task will be a daunting one, restoring an old building that had suffered from decades of neglect. Most of the locals viewed this building as nothing more than an eyesore, a long ago abandoned pile of rubble incapable of being transformed into anything beautiful. But the carpenter sees something very different as he looks once again at the blueprints of it's original construction. He had spent a great deal of time researching the history of the old building. More than that, he can also see how the years of neglect had weathered the materials that remained intact in a beautiful way.

   He steps inside and stands still for a moment, allowing his eyes to take everything in. Within a few minutes, he begins to see the magnificence of how this building was originally created, and how he can build upon that original foundation to create something far more beautiful than any casual observer could possibly imagine.

   He is, after all, a master of restoration.

   He begins the job with a clear vision in mind of how it will look once the work has been completed. He brings in a crew of contractors, each one an expert in their field. Excitement builds within his soul as he sees the progress that's being made from day to day.

   Before long, the locals begin to notice a change in the old building. The reaction is very mixed. Some are thrilled to see something being made of this old landmark, while others openly mock him for believing that this heap of rubble could ever become something beautiful. The carpenter pays little attention to them. He simply continues his work.

   The seasons pass, each one bringing it's own set of complications, but the work continues.

   Finally, the work is completed, and the carpenter finds himself standing in a building that is beautiful beyond words. He admires the way the old, weathered elements blend so beautifully with the new, creating a complete picture far more beautiful than the original construction. At the same time, the older elements give it a beauty that could never be created using only modern construction methods.

   This is what happens to us when we reach a point in our lives when we come to Jesus Christ for the first time, giving Him His rightful place of Lord over our lives, asking Him to speak to us, guide us, and direct our lives in the way that He would have us go.

    "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17

   Of course, while we have become these new creations, we still maintain many of the elements of who we have always been. We were, after all, created in such a way as to be perfectly capable of doing the work that God created us to do. In other words, the elements of our original construction remain, but Jesus, the master carpenter, builds upon these elements in ways that are far too beautiful to describe. He sends other contractors into our lives from time to time - brothers, sisters, friends, pastors, etc. - to assist us in this new construction.

   Seasons pass, and people notice a dramatic change in us. Some will see these changes as being something very beautiful. Others will mock and ridicule us, claiming that nothing beautiful could ever possibly become of the mess our lives once were.

   What we need to be keenly aware of during this process is what we believe about who we are in God's eyes. Will we continue to see ourselves as piles of rubble incapable of ever becoming anything beautiful, or will we see ourselves as being beautifully broken in ways that were absolutely necessary to complete the final masterpiece that God wants to create in us?