Broken || From Dust
I stood outside looking at the front entrance. I took a deep breath - the winter air filled my lungs; my heated breath created a cloud in front of my face. I looped the elastic of my mask around my ears and I opened the door.
It was quiet. The chairs were empty and I picked one with a view of all the doors and the hallway.
A few minutes went by and she came and got me. I walked into a quiet room with lots of natural light and took a seat.
And then those gentle eyes asked the dreaded question, “Tell me about yourself…”
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After processing the brokenness of my mental health with the same therapist for two-and-a-half years, I’ve been learning how to keep moving forward processing it, but also learning how to cue my new therapist in on the already processed brokenness.
This process has been interesting to say the least. Revisiting past brokenness has been both nostalgic and heartbreaking.
Lysa Terkeurst describes this process in her book It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way: “If we weren’t shattered, we’d never know the glorious touch of the Potter making something glorious out of dust, out of us.” It’s this paradox of both brokenness and wholeness.
Lysa knows brokenness. She describes it so beautifully through the analogy of dust: “Dust….it’s the basic ingredient with such great potential for new life.”
We see dust so many times throughout biblical history. God created man from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). Then Jesus takes the dust and mixes it with water (spit) to create clay to heal (John 9:5-6). We see from the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah how clay in the hand of the Potter leads something beautiful (Isaiah 64:8 & Jeremiah 18:6). And we know that one day we will return to dust (Genesis 3:19).
Broken pieces of pottery (potsherds) can be crushed into a fine dust called grog. Grog must be the perfect type of dust - not too fine nor not too coarse.
“Grog makes the clay stronger and enables the clay to go through hotter fires” (Lysa Terkeurst).
Shattered pieces on the floor. Broken.
But God...God sees the broken pieces as opportunity. He sees the finished piece of pottery. He knows how to take the potsherds and crush them into the right grain of dust. He knows how to mix the dust with water and create clay to create something new. He knows how to spin the wheel and shape the clay perfectly. He knows that that grog has allowed His masterpiece to go through hotter fires. And out of the kiln comes something beautiful.
I see the broken bread on the altar; I see the crumbs it leaves. Those crumbs of my Savior have led to abundant life.
He knows how to take the broken pieces and make something beautiful.
He did it with His Son and He longs to do it with you too.
