Beauty in Brokenness

Beauty in Brokenness
By Margaret Manning (A Slice of Infinity from rzim.org)


Recently, I attended a retreat where there was a great deal of personalsharing. I sat amazed as I listened to women from every walk of life,most of whom were established Christians, share of heartache, pain, andvarious aspects of struggle they had either just come through, or werecurrently experiencing. I was overwhelmed by their honesty and by thepoignancy of their stories. But even more than this, I was overwhelmed bythe beauty radiating from within as they shared their stories.
Beauty in brokenness? Without glorifying suffering, there is anunexpected beauty that can shine through stories of struggle. One friendis a paraplegic broken in the use of her body, and yet she has a beautifulspirit. Not limited by her brokenness, she uses her own difficulties tohelp others, and teach others about true ability and disability. TonySnow, former White House Press Secretary, considered his cancer a"calling" and in a recent article written in Christianity Todaysaid, "We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out. Butdespite this--because of it-–God offers the possibility of salvation andgrace."(1) That possibility of salvation and grace is beauty inbrokenness.
Somehow, uniquely, God desires to use those difficult moments of our livesto bring forth something extraordinarily beautiful. Even the naturalcreation attests to this truth. In fall, we marvel at the gorgeous, lushcolors of burnt amber, burnished orange, brilliant red, and bright yellowleaves, even as that beauty belies the slow and gradual death of thoseleaves. Winter buries those leaves under the cold, dark blanket of snowand frost. And yet, death brings forth life. Spring bursts forth yearafter year with jonquils, iris, lilies, and all the beautiful pastels ofnew life.
During a time of deep despair and suffering, King David wondered aboutGod's ability to be present in his dark places--to bring about beautifulredemption in the midst of brokenness. He cried out to God, "Will yourlovingkindness be declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Abaddon? Will your wonders be made known in the darkness? And your righteousnessin the land of forgetfulness?" (Psalm 88:11-12). David wondered about God's work in his life--had he been abandoned? Was God still guiding himeven in the deepest, darkest places of brokenness and fear? And even inthose places seemingly forgotten, would God continue to make things right?David struggled to see how beauty could emerge out of brokenness. Andyet, he later affirmed in Psalm 139, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you arethere; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there... if I say, 'surelythe darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even thedarkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, fordarkness is as light to you." It is in those dark places of brokennessand suffering that God brings forth luminous light so that even the darkis illuminated.
The prophet Isaiah repeats this theme by promising one who would redeemthe exiles, giving them "a garland of beauty instead of ashes" and "thetreasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you mayknow that I am the Lord... who summons you by name" (Isaiah 61:3, 45:3). Perhaps, these were Scriptures recalled by the apostle Paul when hedeclared that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that thesurpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; weare afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; alwayscarrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus alsomay be manifested in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:7-9). Indeed, Pauldeclares that "the God who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' isthe one who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge ofthe glory of God in the face of Christ" (4:6). And so often, that faceof Christ is demonstrated with beautiful radiance through the broken anddark places in our lives.
Today, if you are experiencing hardship, difficulty or personal darkness,seek the light and beauty of Christ, for he longs to be present to you, togive you a garland of beauty instead of ashes, to call you by name, and tobring forth treasures of darkness. He is there in the brokenness with you.


Margaret Manning is associate writer at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.(1)Christianity Today, (July 2007, vol. 51, Number 7), 30.

That's Not What You Think It Is

So you think this is about revenge and all? naahh....

When I first heard of the ongoing Telenovela "Babangon Ako't Dudururugin Kita", what I remember was the movie with Sharon Cuneta, Christopher de Leon and Bembol Roco as the leading stars. This telenovela was a movie in the 1980's, where sharon cuneta (the lead role) played as the wife of christopher de leon. In christopher's desire to reach an ambition, he attempted and was tempted to be linked to a woman of political stance. To get out of the bond of marriage, he later framed up sharon as one committing adultery. Sharon was dragged out of the house literally and forcefully. She battled thru the unwanted consequence, and ended being a slave to the cruelty of the world. On one accident, she met bembol roco, a wealthy man, who provided her with all the support to take revenge.

(Oh.. so you might think im watching those kind of movies, eh? Blame it to my mom. She often drags me to movies of this sort whenever she could not get my dad to accompany her). =D

So why is this my blog name? On a positive note, the title reminded me of what Jesus did not do. Jesus, through all the betrayal, pain and and the kind of death he has suffered due to the sinfulness of man, did not say "Babangon Ako't Dudurugin Kita". But instead, said (if it were in our contemporary language), "Babangon Ako't Patatawarin Kita. " ...

One night when out of the blue I just cried due to the pain caused by betrayal, I had wondered what Jesus felt like when He was betrayed by his people. Of course he could have prepared himself for that since He is omniscient, but as a human, how did He really feel like being betrayed by his friend? How about those people whom he healed, fed, spent time with,did miracles with? What did Jesus feel when he saw that they were the very same
persons who had brought forth suffering? and what about Peter who had denied him for three times?

When I had examined my own life, I realized that I had also betrayed Him in so many ways. And that betrayal is in the form of sin. Oh how many times I had shown that I fall into the Romans 3:23 category--- for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I am not excluded.

In this stage of deeper healing and forgiving someone is where the forgiveness of of God manifested the most.

To be continued....


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John 12:32
"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."