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April 1, 2005
Broken Things
I am like a broken vessel. —Psalm 31:12

Few unbroken lives in this world are useful to God. Few men and women can fulfill their hopes and plans without some interruption and disappointment along the way.

But man's disappointments are often God's appointments, and the things we believe are tragedies may be the very opportunities through which God chooses to exhibit His love and grace. We have but to follow these lives to the end to see that people who have been broken become better and more effective Christians than if they had carried out all their own plans and purposes.

Are you, my friend, being broken today? Has the dearest thing in your life been torn away? Then remember that if you could see the purpose of it all from God's standpoint, you would praise the Lord.

The best things that come to us are not those that accrue from having our way, but by letting God have His way. Though the way of testing and trial and sorrow often seems hard and cruel, it is the way of God's love and in the end will be the best for us.

Remember, we have the Lord's promise: "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).
  — Mart De Haan

Then trust in God through all thy days;
Fear not, for He doth hold thy hand;
Though dark thy way, still sing and praise,
Sometime, sometime, we'll understand. —Cornelius

For a Christian, wholeness always comes after brokenness.


For similar resources, search these topics:

Bible in One Year: Joshua 4–6; Proverbs 1:1-7
http://rbc.org/devotions.aspx?id=8274
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