Giving God the Pieces

Psalm 18:16-19 – But me he caught — reached all the way from sky to sea; He pulled me out of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning. They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved — surprised to be loved! God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. (MSG)

One day, my wife and I were busy tidying the kitchen when she reached into a cabinet and accidentally elbowed a glass. It careened to the floor and smashed into what seemed like a million pieces.

Our cleaning project came to a halt. It was time to pick up the pieces. We swept the floor meticulously, making sure no slivers survived, and threw them all in the trash. Minutes later, our project continued and no one entering would have known anything had ever occurred.

And isn't this true of us? When our lives are shattered, we quickly clean away the slivers lest someone see the mess, even God. The irony is that when we really think we've got it all together is precisely the time we begin to fall apart.

Our first step toward becoming the people the Father would have us be is when we are willing to put down the pieces instead of picking them up, when we are willing to give the God the pieces instead of handling the mess ourselves. It's when we are willing to take such a step of faith that God will handle the mess and give us back our lives, shiny, new, changed.

Prayer: Father, thank you for rescuing us from certain death. How often we want to handle all of the messes we make of our lives all by ourselves. Here are the pieces of our broken lives. Take them, Lord. Put them back together as only you can. Make our lives what they need to be. Change us so it's no longer our will but your will at work. We love you so much, Father. Thank you. In the name of the One who loved us before the world was. Amen.

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