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Verse:He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. —Psalm 147:3, KJV
Momma, why don’t people collect broken shells?” asked five-year-old Arya. “Probably because they don’t look beautiful enough,” Momma answered.
“Momma, I think broken shells are beautiful. From now on, those are the kind of shells I would like to collect,” Arya stated. Broken shells can be symbolic of our life’s journey. At some point in our lives, we all feel broken. In brokenness, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth cried out to the Lord for a child.
These women teach us to wait patiently and prayerfully on the Lord during times of brokenness. Abigail, Naomi, and Ruth, though sorrowing, found strength through sharing with others despite their brokenness.
Naomi and Ruth, especially, teach us to face the future through giving and not grieving. Then there were women broken by sexual misuse —Tamar, Dinah, and Bathsheba. They experienced undeserved shame and a subsequent time of silence, yet their stories encourage us to help abuse victims and survivors find their voices by offering them God’s everlasting peace. Both Mary Magdalene and the Samaritan woman acted out their brokenness through promiscuity. Yet they found healing through the righteous love that Jesus, our faithful Companion, offered them. Mary, facing the possibility of being a single, unwed mother, found healing through her Son, who later died to save the world. These broken-shell stories remind us that God’s grace and healing are for all. Although we are tested in every way, God will not forsake us (2 Corinthians 4:8, 9). He is our Comforter (Psalm 23:4) and Physician who heals the brokenhearted (Psalm 147:3). God is calling us to His rest (Matthew 11:28, 29). He will never allow us to be broken beyond repair. So especially in our brokenness, let’s keep pressing on in faith (Philippians 3:14), knowing He will make us new (Revelation 21:5).
God picks us up and lovingly nurtures us (Psalm 34:18) and restores us as we come to Him in complete surrender through prayer (James 4:10).
He died for us all, He loves us with an everlasting love (John 3:16, 17), and He will never stop seeking after more broken shells (Luke 19:10; Ezekiel 34:11).
Suhana Chikatla