Broken to Beautiful

READ: ISAIAH 64:8; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7; 4:5-18; 12:9-10

Another crack! I peered at the inside of my arm, horrified. It began years ago, these fissures that looked like my skin split and was leaking gold. Most of the time, it didn’t hurt, but I was ashamed of how I looked. I tugged my long kimono sleeve down to hide the new imperfection, glancing around to make sure no one had seen.

There’s a pattern I’m noticing: When I do something wrong, a crack appears on my skin. When someone wrongs me, another one appears! If something tragic happens, another…and the scars remain. The first time was when my best friend in this great world passed away. A jagged lightning bolt tore across my heart. Fitting, for that’s how I felt—like my heart was being torn in two.

The second time, I took a few coins from my guardians’ shop when no one was looking. As I wrapped my fingers around the coins, I watched the skin on my hand split. Yet another time, one who was supposed to love and protect me struck me across the face. As I apply my makeup each morning, I remind myself not to cry and make the ugly visible.

As I walked slowly down the path of flat stones leading to the tea garden, contemplating, a bush beside me shuddered. I leapt to the side, my hands positioned for defense. A man who looked like a Wise One emerged from the bush. “My apologies for startling you; just trimming the bushes.” His dark eyes radiated a kindness I had not felt for a long time.

“What is your name?” His shears stilled as he regarded me. I dipped my head, allowing a dark curtain of hair to fall in my face. “Kowareta.”

“Ah, meaning broken—curious given your beauty.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew,” I responded bitterly.

“Try me.”

Something about him made me want to show the scars, and I rolled back my sleeve. He barely reacted to the fissure. “There are more,” I blurted, “and they don’t go away.

“But the broken can be beautiful,” he spoke softly. “Would you like to know how?”

“Please! I would give anything to have these scars erased!”

“My dear child, you misunderstand. There is One who makes your broken beautiful. There is One who sees every scar and uses it; the greater the cracks, the more the Light shines.”

Fear and desperation made me clench my fists. “I know the One you speak of. Years ago, I became His. But how could the Light shine through me when I am like this? I am ashamed; there is much I need to change.”

“He wants you just as you are. Look, even now the gold is a sign of His love. Trust Him.”

I felt it deep in my bones, like a fire running through every crack on my skin: Yes! How did I not see it before? The gold shows that I belong to Him. The scars remained, but I felt peace—a comforting Presence. A still, small voice whispered: Child, I will use them; all these scars. I have removed the shame from them. Because of my forgiveness and my healing, you and those around you will see the beauty I create with them. Your name is not Kowareta. It is Kintsugi, my daughter. • Savannah Coleman

• Today’s allegorical story is inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi (golden joinery), in which broken pottery is repaired with lacquer, and gold dust is sprinkled onto the lacquer while it’s still wet, giving the repair a golden appearance. This process illuminates the imperfections, while simultaneously making the piece even more beautiful than before. God does something similar with us as He makes us new. Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, He can bring good even out of terrible things like sin and brokenness. When we sin, His glorious forgiveness is put on display (Romans 5:20–6:2). When we are hurt by the brokenness of the world, His beautiful kindness soothes our wounds. How can these truths affect the way we view our scars?

• Consider taking a moment to talk to Jesus about any broken places in your life, whether sins you’ve committed, ways others have wronged you, or painful things that have happened to you in this broken world. He sees, and He cares.

• In addition to talking to Jesus, who are trusted Christians in your life you can show your brokenness to—people who can show you Jesus’s compassion and help you see the beauty He is bringing from your scars? 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)