There was a time when our church wanted to do an outreach for the ladies in our community. We decided to invite the ladies to a tea party at the church. We asked the ladies of the church if they would bring their China to be used for the event. The day came and a group of us was unpackaging the China and putting them out on the tables and used other China pieces given for decorating our fellowship hall. While I was handling the China pieces, I realized how uncomfortable I was getting them out of the containers and putting them on the tables. These were very fragile, and it wouldn’t take much for something to happen to them. I am sure there have been times in your life when you wanted to protect something breakable, and you would try to find a safe place so nothing would happen to it. Some of us have found out the hard way, that life happens and there are no safe places.

What once was whole is now broken into pieces. You may get out the glue and try to put it back together the way it was, but you see the imperfections and some of the pieces don’t fit back like they were. It’s not the same, no matter how hard we try, the item is still broken.

You know, that is just like us in ways. When life happens, and we too try to pick up the broken pieces and put them back together ourselves, but we find out we can’t, and we are never the same. 

The question is, does God really want us to be like we were? He tells us that we are born in sin Romans 3:23 for all have sin and fall short of the glory of God. Sin affects us all in different ways, God word tells us in 1 John 1:8 that sin is in us “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth in not in us.”  Sin happens to us from others as it did to Jospeh with his brothers in Genesis 50:20 “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. There are times sin happens through us, Ecclesiastes 7:20 says “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”  So, to answer the question “Does God want us to be like we were?”, that answer is NO, He does not want us to be our old self.

He wants us to be someone new. That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man. We need to remember Jesus Christ knows what it’s like to be broken, the difference is He chose to be broken for us by placing our sins upon Him. God word says in Isaiah 53:5:

“He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities: upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed.” Through His brokenness, He created for us wholeness with Father. “

God’s word tells us in Hebrews 4:15 and 16:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  It goes on to say “Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need. “

When we come to Jesus Christ with our brokenness knowing we can’t save ourselves, we admit we are sinners and the way we handled things shows that, and we need Him to be our personal Savior and LORD. 

We need him to transform our spiritual hearts into His likeness. Like it says in Romans 12:1-2:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” 

God is the only one who can transform us. The word “Transformed” comes from the Greek word metamorphose translates into metamorphosis. We compare that word to the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. 

Our hearts were transformed the moment God saved us. There is nothing we can do apart from Him because it is His power that gives us the ability to live our lives for Him. He tells us in John 15:5:

“I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”   

So, thinking back about our lives being like broken pottery, I have seen many forms of artwork made with broken pieces of pottery. I can’t help thinking about a picture of a flower using broken pieces of pottery as flower petals. The artist made something beautiful from something broken. Those pieces were held together by the vine and without it, they would fall. Though the flower is beautiful it is not here forever. We are like the flower; we are here today and gone tomorrow. We may only have today to give our broken pieces over to the Savior, Jesus Christ, and let Him transform our brokenness, like the broken pottery into something and someone beautiful for God’s glory and for our good.   

Something beautiful something good

All my confusion He understood.

All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife.

But He made something beautiful of my life. 

Songwriter Gloria Gaither/ William J. Gaither