Mere Christianity Devotional
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:31
We’d all love to just be okay—to not need help or feel anxious. We have Jesus with us; shouldn’t we be all good now? Shouldn’t we be completely rid of these issues that plague us—our mental health issues, the temptations we feel, the frustrations that bubble inside of us, shouldn’t those things have left when Christ came to dwell in our hearts? Although many of us think that we are supposed to be perfect because we’ve been saved, that’s not the reality we live in. In fact, it’s because of our brokenness that God wants to use us.
When I was in youth group, our youth pastor set two vases on the podium. One was brand new, but the other had been broken into pieces and glued back together, leaving gaps you could see through. Our youth pastor admitted that the broken one wasn’t as nice to look at and told us no one would buy it the way that it was. “But,” she said, turning on the fake candles that she had brought with her, “when you put a candle inside each one, which one shows more light?” After she placed the tea lights inside the vases, the picture was clear; more light shone through the one that had been broken.
Like a broken vase, our brokenness can be used by God for His light to shine through. But we have to acknowledge our brokenness first. If we try and act like everything is fine, not only before God but before man, we hide the light He desires to shine though us. By instead acknowledging that we aren’t perfect, admitting our struggles to God and our fellow man, we allow God to use our lives for His purposes and give him all the glory.
If we were perfect, God’s miracles wouldn’t be as grand as they are. If we weren’t broken, we wouldn’t feel such a strong need for Him. As C.S. Lewis said in his book Mere Christianity, “when you know you are sick, you listen to the doctor.” Although we aren’t perfect and our lives are messy, we serve a God who is perfect and longs to use our messiness for His kingdom.
Prayer:
Thank You, God, for using my brokenness for Your glory. Have Your way through the mess of my life and help me to surrender every hard place to Your will. Help me trust You to use my brokenness for Your purposes.
Amen
