We live in a broken world. All we have to do is look at the news to see this. Or look at our own lives and the lives of friends and loved ones. Families are broken. Relationships are broken. Our own lives and hearts so often can feel shattered. How do we deal with this reality? Is there any hope?
    When I moved across the country a couple of years ago, I carefully packed my treasured belongings in hopes that they would all make the trip in one piece. And thankfully, most of them did. But not all of them.
One of my special pieces was one I had purchased in Thailand: a beautiful porcelain bowl with a graceful, multi-tiered lid. It was painstakingly hand decorated with a brilliant cobalt blue background and delicate, colorful flowers, all highlighted with gleaming gold – yes, real gold. It was very special to me. 
    When I opened the box and began to unwrap my belongings, there was my bowl, in pieces. My heart sank. But I loved it too much to throw it away, so I carefully glued it back together. It wasn’t perfect anymore, but it was still beautiful and loved. A friend later shared with me about an Asian belief that something loved and glued back together was even more cherished than it had been to begin with. And that is how I feel about my bowl now.
    Do you feel broken? Maybe your family is a mess? Perhaps you are ashamed of your past? I was recently reminded of two people in the Bible who had messy pasts, but God used them greatly. We meet them both in the Book of Ruth. The first is Boaz. His mother was a prostitute, and he was a half-breed: half gentile and half Jewish. Yet, Boaz became a godly man. The second is a woman named Ruth. She was a Moabite (a gentile, not a Jew), and had been a worshiper of idols. Yet, she turned to believe in the One true God. After the death of her first husband, she left her own homeland with her widowed mother-in -law, Naomi, and took care of her. She could have stayed with her own parents and had plenty, perhaps even remarried, but she chose to go with Naomi and live in poverty. She worked diligently in very humble circumstances, and she trusted God.
    So, you ask, how did God use these two broken people? By His leading, they eventually married, and had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who became the father of David. Of King David! And that means that both Boaz and Ruth are in the linage of Jesus Christ! A son of a prostitute and a Moabite gentile!! Who would have thought or imagined?

What About You?
    Are you are feeling broken and messed up? Remember: God takes broken things and makes them beautiful in His time. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) If we are His children and are following Him, we can be assured that He will bring beauty out of the ashes of our lives. Like my broken bowl, we are not perfect. God knows that. But He lovingly wants to restore each of us and use us for His good purposes. What a blessing! All we need to do is offer ourselves fully to Him.