Mending the Broken Places
Mending the Broken Places
How God Turns Our Brokenness into a Testimony of His Grace
Kintsugi is a Japanese art form used to repair broken pottery. Rather than discarding a broken bowl, plate, or vase, the fragmented pieces are carefully put back together using a special adhesive. Once the pieces are joined and the adhesive has cured, the cracks are often adorned with gold, silver, or other precious metals.
The beauty of Kintsugi is that the damage is not hidden. Instead, the cracks are highlighted with precious metal, transforming what was once broken into something beautiful and unique. The repaired piece tells a story of brokenness, restoration, and renewed value. Someone saw worth in those broken pieces and took the time to put them back together.
I don't know about you all, but I am a piece of Kintsugi art!
Jeremiah 17:14 (AMP) says:
“Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved. For You are my praise.”
In other words, “God, pick up the pieces. Put me back together again. You are my praise!”
Let's look at this allegory from a biblical perspective.
Jesus' Example
After the crucifixion, when Jesus emerged from the tomb, He emerged with nail-scarred hands. Certainly, the Savior, the Redeemer of the world, could have chosen to present His resurrected body as completely healed, without a scratch, a scar, or a blemish. But He revealed Himself to His disciples with holes in His hands. They could see where the nails had been driven through, tearing His flesh.
Some may ponder, “Why? Why did He choose to resurrect with a body that still bore the scars of His crucifixion instead of appearing perfectly healed and blemish-free?”
One might say the most obvious reason was that He knew He would encounter Doubting Thomas, who would question whether He really was the Savior. And you would be correct! Thomas had to reach out and touch Jesus' nail-scarred hands before he would believe. But it was more than that.
Through this, Christ also exemplified to us that your scars do not define you. He showed us through the wounds in His hands that some battles will be tougher than others. But when you are walking in Christ Jesus, no matter what weapon is formed against you, it will not prosper (Isaiah 54:17).
Sometimes in life, we go through things that leave scars on us. We sustain physical scars, emotional scars, scars in our hearts, and scars in our minds. You may not feel that life has treated you fairly. You may feel that you have taken on just about as much as you could possibly bear. But those scars do not have to define you.
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36, NKJV).
You may have been beaten physically, mentally, or emotionally, but you are still here to tell about it. And because you are still here, you have time to declare victory over the trauma from your past. You can stand and declare, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, KJV).
Your scars are evidence that you have been through something, but they are not proof that you have been defeated. Jesus still had the scars, but He was no longer on the cross! He was resurrected, victorious, and alive!
And so are you!
Trust in God — It's a Process
Sometimes God has to break us to make us, scold us to mold us, and whip us to equip us.
I Peter 5:10 (NKJV) says:
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
Luke 4:18 (NKJV) says:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
He sees every one of your broken pieces. And He cares about every little shard that many others would have overlooked.
He sees them and knows how each pieces placement and function. So just because He sees it does not mean He will glue it back in. That shard could be named hurt, pain, fear, abuse, resentment, jealousy, envy, trauma etcetera.
You see, that little tiny shard, if reincorporated into the larger piece, might weaken the integrity of the whole. So rather than putting it back where it was, God may choose to remove it and shore up that area with something stronger such as love, forgiveness, patience or any of the other fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). These will give you the integrity, strength, and resilience needed to stand the test of time.
Had He put that shard back in the same place from which it had been severed, you might have only lasted for a little while. Over time, with wear and tear, that area could have become the breach that caused you to leak. And a leaky container spills out things in places and ways that they should not.
God didn't repair you to be a colander or a sieve! He is repairing you so that you can withstand whatever test and trials that may come your way.
Second Corinthians 10:4 (KJV) reminds us:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”
God is not simply interested in putting you back together so that you look good on the outside. He is concerned about the integrity of the vessel. He wants to strengthen you from the inside out so that you can carry what He has placed within you without leaking, breaking down, or falling apart every time life gets difficult.
The process may not always feel good. Sometimes healing hurts. Sometimes, the waiting is uncomfortable. Sometimes, you may wonder why God is removing certain things, people, habits, or mindsets from your life. You may even wonder why He is not putting everything back exactly the way it was.
But remember this: God is not obligated to restore you to the person you were before you broke. He is able to transform you into the person He has called you to be.
He knows which pieces to put back, which pieces to remove, and where the strengthening needs to take place. What looks like loss to you may be part of the process of making you whole.
The Beauty of Being Mended
When we look at a piece of Kintsugi pottery, we don't see an object that was simply broken and glued back together. We see something that has been carefully restored. The cracks are still visible, but they have been transformed into part of its beauty.
And isn't that what God does for us?
He doesn't waste our pain. He doesn't overlook our brokenness. He doesn't turn away from us because we have been damaged by life. He sees the places where we have been hurt, the places where we have fallen apart, and the places where we thought we could never be whole again.
And He begins the work of mending.
Some of us are still in the process. We are still healing from the things people said, the things people did, the opportunities we lost, the relationships that ended, and the seasons of life that nearly took us out. We may not look the way we used to, think the way we used to, or even respond to life the way we once did. But that does not mean God has abandoned the work.
You are a work in progress, not a lost cause!
The same God who can take the broken pieces of your life and make something beautiful out of them is still working on you. Don't rush the process. Don't despise the season of healing. And don't allow anyone to convince you that your broken places make you less valuable.
Your value was never determined by how perfectly put together you appeared to be. Your value comes from the One who created you, loves you, and sees you as worthy of His care.
So, the next time you look at your scars, remember the nail-scarred hands of Jesus. Remember that brokenness is not the end of your story, it’s just a chapter of a book that is still being written. The cracks in your life do not have to be hidden in shame. In the hands of God, even those places can become testimonies of His grace, His power, and His faithfulness.
You may have been broken, but you are not beyond repair. You may have been wounded, but you are not without hope. And you may still be healing, but that does not mean God has stopped working.
Let Him gather the pieces. Let Him remove what no longer belongs. Let Him strengthen what remains. And trust Him with the process of making you whole.
Because when God gets finished with you, your broken places will not be the end of your story. They will be a testimony of what His hands can do.
Remember this: Your cracks are not your conclusion. They are where God is working!
He is mending the broken places, restoring what was damaged, strengthening what was weak, and creating something beautiful from the pieces.
You may be broken, but in the hands of God, you are being mended. And what God is mending, He is not finished with yet!
A Prayer for Mending the Broken Places
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for seeing value in me, even when I have been broken. You love me enough to care about my broken pieces and restore me into a more beautiful version of myself, reflecting Your loving and thoughtful craftsmanship.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, my Creator. Thank You for being patient with me as You shape me into the person You intended me to be before I was formed in my mother’s womb.
Help me to be patient throughout the process. Teach me to trust Your timing and Your hands, so that I do not rush ahead and undo what You have already mended. Help me to surrender every broken place to You and trust that You know exactly what needs to be restored, strengthened, or removed.
I will trust You to make me whole.
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
How God Turns Our Brokenness into a Testimony of His Grace
Kintsugi is a Japanese art form used to repair broken pottery. Rather than discarding a broken bowl, plate, or vase, the fragmented pieces are carefully put back together using a special adhesive. Once the pieces are joined and the adhesive has cured, the cracks are often adorned with gold, silver, or other precious metals.
The beauty of Kintsugi is that the damage is not hidden. Instead, the cracks are highlighted with precious metal, transforming what was once broken into something beautiful and unique. The repaired piece tells a story of brokenness, restoration, and renewed value. Someone saw worth in those broken pieces and took the time to put them back together.
I don't know about you all, but I am a piece of Kintsugi art!
Jeremiah 17:14 (AMP) says:
“Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved. For You are my praise.”
In other words, “God, pick up the pieces. Put me back together again. You are my praise!”
Let's look at this allegory from a biblical perspective.
Jesus' Example
After the crucifixion, when Jesus emerged from the tomb, He emerged with nail-scarred hands. Certainly, the Savior, the Redeemer of the world, could have chosen to present His resurrected body as completely healed, without a scratch, a scar, or a blemish. But He revealed Himself to His disciples with holes in His hands. They could see where the nails had been driven through, tearing His flesh.
Some may ponder, “Why? Why did He choose to resurrect with a body that still bore the scars of His crucifixion instead of appearing perfectly healed and blemish-free?”
One might say the most obvious reason was that He knew He would encounter Doubting Thomas, who would question whether He really was the Savior. And you would be correct! Thomas had to reach out and touch Jesus' nail-scarred hands before he would believe. But it was more than that.
Through this, Christ also exemplified to us that your scars do not define you. He showed us through the wounds in His hands that some battles will be tougher than others. But when you are walking in Christ Jesus, no matter what weapon is formed against you, it will not prosper (Isaiah 54:17).
Sometimes in life, we go through things that leave scars on us. We sustain physical scars, emotional scars, scars in our hearts, and scars in our minds. You may not feel that life has treated you fairly. You may feel that you have taken on just about as much as you could possibly bear. But those scars do not have to define you.
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36, NKJV).
You may have been beaten physically, mentally, or emotionally, but you are still here to tell about it. And because you are still here, you have time to declare victory over the trauma from your past. You can stand and declare, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, KJV).
Your scars are evidence that you have been through something, but they are not proof that you have been defeated. Jesus still had the scars, but He was no longer on the cross! He was resurrected, victorious, and alive!
And so are you!
Trust in God — It's a Process
Sometimes God has to break us to make us, scold us to mold us, and whip us to equip us.
I Peter 5:10 (NKJV) says:
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
Luke 4:18 (NKJV) says:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
He sees every one of your broken pieces. And He cares about every little shard that many others would have overlooked.
He sees them and knows how each pieces placement and function. So just because He sees it does not mean He will glue it back in. That shard could be named hurt, pain, fear, abuse, resentment, jealousy, envy, trauma etcetera.
You see, that little tiny shard, if reincorporated into the larger piece, might weaken the integrity of the whole. So rather than putting it back where it was, God may choose to remove it and shore up that area with something stronger such as love, forgiveness, patience or any of the other fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). These will give you the integrity, strength, and resilience needed to stand the test of time.
Had He put that shard back in the same place from which it had been severed, you might have only lasted for a little while. Over time, with wear and tear, that area could have become the breach that caused you to leak. And a leaky container spills out things in places and ways that they should not.
God didn't repair you to be a colander or a sieve! He is repairing you so that you can withstand whatever test and trials that may come your way.
Second Corinthians 10:4 (KJV) reminds us:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”
God is not simply interested in putting you back together so that you look good on the outside. He is concerned about the integrity of the vessel. He wants to strengthen you from the inside out so that you can carry what He has placed within you without leaking, breaking down, or falling apart every time life gets difficult.
The process may not always feel good. Sometimes healing hurts. Sometimes, the waiting is uncomfortable. Sometimes, you may wonder why God is removing certain things, people, habits, or mindsets from your life. You may even wonder why He is not putting everything back exactly the way it was.
But remember this: God is not obligated to restore you to the person you were before you broke. He is able to transform you into the person He has called you to be.
He knows which pieces to put back, which pieces to remove, and where the strengthening needs to take place. What looks like loss to you may be part of the process of making you whole.
The Beauty of Being Mended
When we look at a piece of Kintsugi pottery, we don't see an object that was simply broken and glued back together. We see something that has been carefully restored. The cracks are still visible, but they have been transformed into part of its beauty.
And isn't that what God does for us?
He doesn't waste our pain. He doesn't overlook our brokenness. He doesn't turn away from us because we have been damaged by life. He sees the places where we have been hurt, the places where we have fallen apart, and the places where we thought we could never be whole again.
And He begins the work of mending.
Some of us are still in the process. We are still healing from the things people said, the things people did, the opportunities we lost, the relationships that ended, and the seasons of life that nearly took us out. We may not look the way we used to, think the way we used to, or even respond to life the way we once did. But that does not mean God has abandoned the work.
You are a work in progress, not a lost cause!
The same God who can take the broken pieces of your life and make something beautiful out of them is still working on you. Don't rush the process. Don't despise the season of healing. And don't allow anyone to convince you that your broken places make you less valuable.
Your value was never determined by how perfectly put together you appeared to be. Your value comes from the One who created you, loves you, and sees you as worthy of His care.
So, the next time you look at your scars, remember the nail-scarred hands of Jesus. Remember that brokenness is not the end of your story, it’s just a chapter of a book that is still being written. The cracks in your life do not have to be hidden in shame. In the hands of God, even those places can become testimonies of His grace, His power, and His faithfulness.
You may have been broken, but you are not beyond repair. You may have been wounded, but you are not without hope. And you may still be healing, but that does not mean God has stopped working.
Let Him gather the pieces. Let Him remove what no longer belongs. Let Him strengthen what remains. And trust Him with the process of making you whole.
Because when God gets finished with you, your broken places will not be the end of your story. They will be a testimony of what His hands can do.
Remember this: Your cracks are not your conclusion. They are where God is working!
He is mending the broken places, restoring what was damaged, strengthening what was weak, and creating something beautiful from the pieces.
You may be broken, but in the hands of God, you are being mended. And what God is mending, He is not finished with yet!
A Prayer for Mending the Broken Places
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for seeing value in me, even when I have been broken. You love me enough to care about my broken pieces and restore me into a more beautiful version of myself, reflecting Your loving and thoughtful craftsmanship.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, my Creator. Thank You for being patient with me as You shape me into the person You intended me to be before I was formed in my mother’s womb.
Help me to be patient throughout the process. Teach me to trust Your timing and Your hands, so that I do not rush ahead and undo what You have already mended. Help me to surrender every broken place to You and trust that You know exactly what needs to be restored, strengthened, or removed.
I will trust You to make me whole.
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.