I found this pine cone on a morning walk down to the beach. At first glance it looked perfect. It seemed to have fallen from the tree above, unaffected, undamaged.
But when I walked closer to pick it up, I realized it did, in fact, have a couple of “broken” places – some chips and cracks to its structure.
I thought of the lyrics, “there’s always scars when you fall that far.” And I thought about how similar I am to this pine cone.
I have fallen – oh how I have fallen so far from where God has called me, and so short of what He had called me to… who He has called me to be.
But like I did with this pine cone, He scoops us up, carries us home, and delights in the sight of us every single day.
He promises He will never leave us. He will never turn His back on us. He will never leave us broken.
He will always be with us. He will always be near us. He will always restore us.
We have the opportunity – not despite all our scars, but because of them – to point others to God’s great provision, redemption and grace despite any falling on our part. He uses us – with all our broken places – to reveal His beauty, His goodness, and His faithfulness… to bring a little more of His beautiful Kingdom to the broken earth.
What broken places do you have? How has/is/can God use them to reveal His beauty? To proclaim His promises?
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song reference: get back up. by Toby Mac.
