I've come here today to tell you something God has a plan for your life I don't care who you
are where you've been or what you've done I don't care what somebody else has done to you I don't
care how bad life is treated you how unfair life has been or how stupid you have been for
I know the plans I have for you plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you a hope
and a future for days I would pull that out every morning
but read that scripture sometimes I would go off for a walk and I
would just quote that scripture over and over to myself and it took me a
a while of quoting that scripture to actually believe that scripture could apply to me
I thought it applied to a bunch of other people but not to me a hope a future
I'm damaged I'm rejected some of you just need to know today that God is the God who
restores what is broken we throw away things that are broken we discard things that have
deteriorated because we determined that they no longer have value all right not with God
God loves broken things and broken people because God will take broken things and broken people
and mend those things and make them whole and reclaim them for his glory that those things
and those people might live according to his grand purposes for their lives
but the fact is God can only use broken things
God can only use broken hearts hearts that are humble before him
there was a revivalist an author by the name of Dr Vance Habner who once said and I quote God uses
broken things it takes broken soil to produce a crop broken clouds to give rain broken grain
to give bread broken bread to give strength it is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume
it is Peter weeping bitterly who returns to great power than ever close quote and it's so true
that broken heart God can use God uses broken people why because broken people are humble and
he resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble God uses broken people he
bestows upon our brokenness his grace and his mercy his patience and his kindness
here's the thing I've learned about life either accept the season's over
or cry about the rest of your life but when the season's done the season's done
you gotta be okay with it you gotta know that God has a bigger plan God
knows what he's doing even when it doesn't make sense to us don't dwell in the past
see I'm doing a new thing he goes on to say it's just begun I've already done I'm already starting
I'm already in the middle of a new thing God saying I'm already there you might as well join me
but you're still over here crying over what what's lost
you know what I've learned to do in my life by the way don't focus on who left focus on who stayed
they'll focus on what's lost focus on what's left we gotta learn to do that Revelation 21
says this he will wipe away every tear from their eyes there will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away he who was seated on the
throne said I am making everything new my favorite lines of Jesus he said I'm making everything new
there's a reason I'm going through this I'm making everything new when God comes in to
renovate he he comes in to knock down the old stuff that he might create something new
with Heaven before you the best is always yet to come
Heaven is still before us amen stop feeling sorry for yourself
God can restore the years even
that you wasted he can restore the years of the locus have eaten you know he
can't do anything about yesterday but you can start right now today is the first day of the
rest of your life in Christ always because of his great mercy and his grace toward us
God can recover all of that doesn't mean that you know the your spouse may come back to you
or or all of this and you know but God can still use all things Romans 8:28 if you will turn to
him he works all things out for good to those who love God who are called according to his purpose
and God is calling you today but you will know that he is that he
is God and there is no other God when God creates something beautiful out of ashes
and God does something wonderful does something out of nothing in my life
there was one American artist that noted that when the Japanese mend broken things
that oftentimes they will aggrandize the damage done to that thing by filling in the cracks of
the broken object with gold interesting they would fill in the cracks with gold because they say when
something has been damaged now it has a history and now it's more valuable it's more beautiful
I love that thought you see God is in the business of using broken people lost people
lame people he's in the business of taking them and changing them and teaching them how to fish
for people to find those lost souls who want to be found who are ready to change their life
you might be thinking my brokenness and my experiences and my trials disqualify
me when you commit your life to Christ those things can be used by the Lord to reach others
the Lord uses the broken to reach the broken second Corinthians 1:4 God comforts us in all
our troubles so that we can comfort others with the same comfort we receive from God
God uses our pain to help others God does not want you to waste a hurt it says in second Corinthians
1 verses 3 the God of all comfort comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others
with the comfort we ourselves have received from God God's people are so powerful people ask me
sometimes where is God and all this whenever a tragedy happens I'll have people say where
is God in all this and I always smile and say he's in all the people around you right now helping you
that's where God is in all this you know it's interesting too it says here that the God of
all comfort comforts us and says so we can then do what we can comfort others with with the same
comfort we ourselves received what that's saying is that whatever pain you've gone through God
never wastes a pain he doesn't do that he recycles it so whatever you go through you'll eventually be
able to help someone else go through in fact some of you are going through something right now and
the only thing that's going to get you through it is knowing that one day I will help other people
go through what I'm going through God is able to mend broken hearts broken homes broken hopes
broken health broken joy it doesn't matter what it is Jesus came to heal broken people amen
how many of us would be included in that promise
we're all broken we're all dysfunctional and I'm so thankful for the good news of
the Gospel that he heals us and then uses us to help other broken people