The Nov/Dec issue of Girlz 4 Christ is out now! If you missed it, be sure to order a FREE Girlz 4 Christ subscription today! Just e-mail Girlz4Christ@yahoo.com with the following information:
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We’re really excited about this issue. It includes so much, including:
-Christmas ideas
-Healthy recipes and substitutions
-Interviews with Austin Gutwein and Lily Garay
-Volunteer opportunities
-Devotionals, like this one:
Broken- But Beautiful
Close your eyes and imagine this. A beautiful, hand crafted, gloss covered, clay pot. Every inch of it is smooth, its shape is perfect and the intricate hand painted designs covering its surface are exquisite. There it is, sitting proudly on the makers work bench, useful and beautiful.
Now look to the floor of the workshop. Underneath the desk you see a potsherd – a broken piece of pottery. It’s small and ragged, bare of gloss or color, and pretty much useless. But here’s the catch: Later, when the Maker comes back to the workshop, he crawls on his hands and knees underneath the desk and picks up the potsherd gently with his fingers. Then he takes the glossy pot and brings both into his house to put on display.
I know what you’re thinking. Weird.
But wait – there’s one more important part to this story. You know that potsherd?
That’s you.
Sure, we’d all like to be the perfect pot. But let’s be real – maybe you’re shy, or have trouble at school, or don’t look like a runway model – whatever it is, you probably don’t consider yourself ‘perfect pot material.’
Maybe you feel broken, small and insignificant.
Take a look at this verse from Isaiah: “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands?’” (Isaiah 45:9 NIV)
Isaiah has a point. As girls that belong to Christ, we love and serve an all-powerful, all-loving, and all-purposefulGod. Every inch of you was designed and planned by a loving and attentive maker. God doesn’t make junk.
So why don’t you have those stunning blue eyes and silky blonde hair? Why then, every time you meet new people, does your personality decide to up and disappear? Why are you possibly the worst person on the planet at math, and equally hopeless at sports?
One, because you were created that way, and two, because being less than perfect means that God isn’t finished with you yet.
It’s okay for a daughter of God to feel broken. God, our maker, is still molding, and meanwhile he can use our brokenness for his purpose – our weaknesses to bring Glory to him.
Brokenness is beautiful.
Paul hit the nail on the head: “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
Being a Christian girl in a hurting world doesn’t mean having it all together. It doesn’t mean being the perfect example, or being smooth around the edges. Sometimes, the greatest testimony you can offer others is to show that you are also broken, but that your creator is creative and he has plans for you beyond the scope of human imagination.
Be confident in the knowledge that one day you will be finished. You will be painted, glossed, and shaped to perfection.
But until that day, also know that you already sitting on ‘God’s shelf of fame,’ you are already worthy, and you can already do great things for the kingdom of God.
A little potsherd can be anything in the hands of a big God.
Want to read more about this topic? Look up these verses:
· Romans 9:20
· Jeremiah 18
· Isaiah 43
(*Tip*Isaiah is a wonderful book of the Bible to read if you want to find out how much God really does treasure you!)
by Grace Harrison
Girlz 4 Christ 