This picture has 128 years of combined history behind it. Three women who’ve endured heartaches, tragedies, blessings, love, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and redemption are the creators of this beautifully shattered heart.

If you’ve never taken the time to grab a plate or two or five or ten and shatter them on the ground, oh, my friend, you’ve got to make that happen! There’s something so invigorating about letting go without a care in the world and watching that plate shatter into a million tiny pieces before your eyes. Call me and I’ll come do it with you.

Letting go of the things holding us captive

A few weeks ago myself and a couple of my dear friends got together for a plate-breaking session. I didn’t have any expectations about what God would do through our time together, but I just knew he would show up. I knew in the midst of making a mess in the garage of one of my sweet friends, He would help us release some things on our hearts. Boy did He ever!

She handed each of us a Sharpie so we could write on the back of the plate whatever God put on our hearts to let go of. Whether it was a person we were holding onto, a feeling we couldn’t shake, a sin we were allowing to keep us in shame, it didn’t matter. Three of us together, yet God working on our hearts separately, excited to help us find more freedom.

Another friend reached into the box and grabbed a handful of plates. She wasn’t messing around. I didn’t think she could write fast enough. Then one by one she threw those plates to the ground and watched the debris fly. It was a beautiful mess to watch.

We let go of unforgiveness towards those who’d hurt us. We let go of unforgiveness towards ourselves. We broke shame into a million pieces. We watched fear shatter on the cold concrete floor. We let the control others had over us break away. Goodbye resentment. Goodbye bitterness. Goodbye control. Hearts once shattered by ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends, and absent fathers were becoming whole again with every ceramic crumb falling to the ground.

We sat in silence for a while, listening to praise music and allowing ourselves to breathe. To just breathe and soak in God’s grace. There was no judgment in the room for the things we’d held onto. No sin highlighted over another. Just three women breathing a little deeper, feeling a little lighter about letting go of the shattered pieces of our hearts and giving them back to God.

Then we took communion together, praising God for His freedom. His forgiveness. His unending mercy and grace. His desire to commune with us every moment of every day, not just on Sunday mornings. I can’t help but tear up now thinking about it. God is so good!

Finding beauty in the shattered pieces

As we cleaned up the shattered pieces and swept them into the middle of the floor, one of my free friends turned them into a heart. “There’s a lot of history in this mess,” she said as she turned that mess into the shape of a heart. It was a moment I knew the camera had to capture. A beautiful picture of God’s awesomeness! Now we each have this framed picture in our homes as a reminder.

Though our hearts have been shattered into a million pieces, wholeness can still come from the brokenness. You may look at this picture and see just a mess of broken plates. But when I see it, I see beauty in the brokenness. That’s exactly how God sees you, my friend. In the midst of your broken places, God sees beauty. He is enthralled with your beauty.

Your heart may be shattered, but God will use it. He will take every broken piece and use it for His glory, if you’ll let Him. Shame. Unforgiveness. Resentment. Fear. Insecurity. Addiction. Depression. Anxiety. He sees the beauty in all of those struggles and He longs to turn those broken things into beauty.

I encourage you to make your own beautiful mess. God is waiting for you there. He’s waiting to sweep up the shattered pieces of your heart and turn them into something beautiful.

I love you, friend. God loves you more. Your mess is beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

[ctt template=”5″ link=”8Xb10″ via=”yes” ]God sees wholeness in the midst of our deepest brokenness.[/ctt]