Have you ever heard of Kintsugi? Mymodernmet.com explains it like this:
“Poetically translated to ‘golden joinery,’ kintsugi, … is the centuries-old Japanese art of fixing broken pottery. Rather than rejoin ceramic pieces with a camouflaged adhesive, the kintsugi technique employs a special … lacquer, made from tree sap, dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Once completed, beautiful seams of gold glint in the conspicuous cracks of ceramic wares, giving a one-of-a-kind appearance to each ‘repaired’ piece.”
“This unique method celebrates each artifact’s unique history by emphasizing its fractures and breaks instead of hiding or disguising them. In fact, kintsugi often makes the repaired piece even more beautiful than the original, revitalizing it with a new look and giving it a second life.”1
The Bible refers to us as pottery in 2 Corinthians 4:6-72 and 2 Timothy 2:20-213:
God has designed us to be both beautiful and useful in His Kingdom.
For some of us, life has not been gentle. We have been misused and mishandled. We have been cracked and broken. At the very least, life has left most of us with chips and missing pieces. We may feel like we have been damaged beyond repair.
God promises to redeem all the hurt and repair all the wear and tear that we have experienced. He promises to take what the enemy and others have meant for evil and turn it into good, so that many may be blessed. (Genesis 50:20)4. He promises to work out everything, even the bad, for good for those whom He has called, so that we may be more like Christ. (Romans 8:28-29)5. And He promises to take what has been turned into ash in our lives and make it beautiful, so that He can be glorified. (Isaiah 61:3)6.
And when God fixes His broken vessels, He doesn’t do it with tree sap dusted with precious metal powder; He repairs His dear ones with pure gold. Then He “[shines] in our hearts to give [us the] light of the knowledge of the glory of God” in our “earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
When we are in Christ, and when we allow Him to repair and remake us, the more cracks and chips we had–the more seemingly destroyed we have been–the more valuable we become to Him, and the more useful we will be in His Kingdom.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica,
“Kintsugi, due to its embrace of flaws and endurance, has also become a frequent metaphor for resilience, recovery, and acceptance.”7
Jesus has done everything necessary to restore your brokenness and give you new life.8 Won’t you let Him turn your hurts into something that blesses you and advances His Kingdom?
1 https://mymodernmet.com/kintsugi-kintsukuroi/
2 “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
3 “In a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20-21).
4 “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20).
5 “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:28-29).
6 “To console those who mourn …, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:3).
7 https://www.britannica.com/art/kintsugi-ceramics.
8 For more on all that Jesus has done, check out: https://blueturtletrails.com/knowing-what-youve-got/