Inside our Brokenness
What if our broken heart reveals not the beauty inside of us, but actually Christ inside of us?
Hello sweet friend! A few days ago I went on a beach walk with a dear friend. As we were walking, I found a perfect sand dollar. This is very rare where I live- usually they are already broken or picked apart by the many beautiful birds that live here. This one was PERFECT. Whole and beautiful. A true treasure. I tucked it into my pocket to take it home and forgot about it.
I remembered that it was there yesterday afternoon, and quickly pulled my coat from the closet. I reached into the pocket only to find that the sand dollar had been smashed and broken apart. My perfect sand dollar! Broken open. Ruined.
At first, I felt so sad! Another crushed treasure…perfection disrupted by decay, degeneration and destruction. Until the Holy Spirit whispered…
Inside of this sand dollar are the Doves of Peace… they represent the five wounds that Christ endured on the cross. You can’t get to them unless the sand dollar is cracked open and left broken. This is also much like your heart. Christ wants your broken heart because when you crack open your heart- the proud tunica externa, the rebellious tunica media, the fearful tunica intima… under all of those layers is… Christ.
And what of this broken vessel we carry, flawed and imperfect, sometimes in scattered pieces… what is the Lord’s answer to us when we offer it to Him? God answers;
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”1
This perfectly formed heart that we think takes occupancy beneath our ribs is actually much like the dried up and hardened exoskeleton of the sand dollar. The amyloidosis of our soul’s heart hardened by this fallen, broken world itself, begging to be made new by the Healer Himself-Our High Priest of Good Things to Come. Our hearts rent of their rigid, desiccated and fragile frame are now prepared to be made new- soft and pliable and tender to Christ, allowing Him to circumcise our hearts to love, and to love Him.2
Our broken heart is our road to Christ… our soft heart is ready for the Master’s hand.
Read Ezekiel 36; Alma 5:12-13; Mosiah 5:2; Deuteronomy 36; Helamen 15:7; Psalm 51:10
Recall How would you describe your heart right now?
Reflect Where do you need the Lord to break down the walls of your heart? Is it pride? Rebellion? Fear?
Reclaim Pray and ask the Lord to give you a broken heart and contrite spirit, and a new heart. Reclaim the joy of being made new through Him.
Ezekiel 36:26
Deuteronomy 36