Chips and Salt and Light

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Have you ever noticed that the chips at the top of the bag are pretty and whole and just about perfect to look at, but the broken chips at the bottom are the saltiest? I think it's the same with people. 

Jesus tells us that we're supposed to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 15:13-16). We get so caught up in wanting to be whole, wanting to look and feel perfect--not flawed and broken and messed up--wanting to hang on to youth, beauty, health. But the truth is that the saltiest individuals are those who've taken that rough trip to bottom of the bag, been beaten up a bit by time and handling. Yes, those painful life experiences and heart wounds really hurt on the way down, but Jesus uses them to give the world a potent taste of His grace.

Just like those last broken bits that leave your fingers coated with salt crystals, those who are saltiest for God's kingdom are those who've been broken.

A Broken Collection

The Lord has been excavating my soul of late, unearthing childhood wounds so that He can apply the healing they desperately need. Through this process, He has made me more sensitive to the presence of similar wounds in others.
I have come to the conclusion that we are all broken. Every last one of us. Some are scarred by childhood abuse and neglect, most have self-inflicted wounds, carved by our own choices. The bottom line is that every last one of us is broken in some way by sin.
The Bible says we're all broken. Damaged. Scratched and scarred. Marred and blemished in some way (Rom 3:23). And there's nothing we can do about it. Absolutely nothing.
Then along comes the Lord. For some reason inconceivable to us, He really likes damaged goods.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
-Psalm 34:18

Scripture states this again and again (Ps 147:3), even in prophetic messages about Jesus the Messiah (Is 61:1). Come to think of it, Jesus even said that He came specifically for the broken, not the perfect (Mt 9:12-13, Lk 5:31-32, Mk 2:17)
Barbara Bloom once wrote, “When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.”
The Lord is like that. He searches out the damaged pieces. He uses the broken, filling in the fractures with His glory and redemption. What a strange Collector God is. And I'm so glad He found a place in His collection for me.