A Story for His Glory (Part 3 of The Cup Series)

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" Philippians 1:6

He chuckled at my endeavor. (Just for the record, he didn't understand the whole concept.)

He had to keep coming back to check my progress. 

"How's it going? Are you getting it?," he'd grin and say.

Quite honestly, those questions kind of irritated me a bit. YES, I was going to get it and NO, it was not going to be perfect; but I was going to be completely satisfied with the outcome. Why? Because it wasn't meant to be perfect anymore...it was meant to be new. A story, an experience I can share.

 As I was gingerly gluing my cup back together, I quickly realized just how difficult the task was going to be. Wow! It wasn't as easy as I'd first anticipated. The pieces just didn't fit back together quite right and some of them were so tiny and fragile. There were gaping cracks, but I was OK with that! Finally.

I thought about how my sweet husband kept coming in to "check" on my progress and I wondered how many times that happens while God tries to put our broken pieces back together. How many times does the devil (or well-meaning "friends") or we ourselves come around to check up on how it's coming along? How any times are we tempted to be impatient with God's work and plan? How many lies do we believe? You know, those ones we often hear loud and clear: We'll never amount to anything. We'll never get it right. We'll always be labeled. We'll never have a chance to be what we dream. We'll always live under this unwanted chaos. How many times do we hear the ugly judgements? "Damaged! Flawed!" All the while, our God diligently keeps working. He never stops. He does not waver. He won't grow weary or quit. He just won't give up. He is always faithful to complete His work in us.  (Thank you, Lord!) We are safe in those hands.

So, with my cup project finally finished, I place a tiny candle inside to help illuminate all the imperfections - even the places with missing pieces. I'm perfectly OK with that! It's beautiful in its own way, especially to me. You see, I took the time and effort to put it back together. It became MY creation. The candle-light from within bursts forth brightly and I am reminded that the One who is writing the story of my life, and yours, can shine beautifully through our broken places. He won't quit His work until He's ready to perfectly display each of those imperfect places -  and He's OK with that. The One who has made the effort to mend the shattered pieces of our lives thinks we're worth it. After all, it's not about restoring us to our original condition...it's about us becoming something new. In spite of those who may laugh, mock or sit idly by waiting for our demise, for us to give up, rest assured. God's work always results in a beautiful masterpiece. 

Don't worry or become afraid.

I'm confident...and you can be too.

God is at work...He's making us new. There's no life He can't mend if we give ourselves to Him. He's busy mending us, giving us a wonderful story (testimony) to share...complete with those beautiful cracks. All for His glory!